WP3 is designed to investigate the restoration of coastal shallow hard bottoms and mesophotic through a combination of systematic data collection, field experiments and ‘omics’ analyses.

Specific objectives:

1) defining gaps in the restoration of animal and algal forests;

2) increasing the understanding of the role of these species in the marine systems, in order to identify key processes and mechanisms influencing restoration success;

3) setting criteria and protocols to support general approaches for their successful restoration across Europe;

4) testing the effectiveness of restoration actions under a changing ocean scenario;

5) providing indicators to assess the performance of suggested restoration measures.

The results of WP3 will provide researchers and managers with new tools and robust scientific knowledge to guide the large-scale implementation of the proposed protocols.

Co-leaders: Partner 2, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Joaquim Garrabou) and Partner 13, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (Simonetta Fraschetti).