Discovery

General context and scientific objectives

The effects of global change linked to both climate disruption and increased anthropogenic pressures are modifying the structure and functioning of ecosystems. The complexity observed in nature (systems of interactions) allows ecosystems to persist, maintain or transform themselves while adapting to forcing variables. Ecological processes integrating biological, chemical, physical and human variables allow, among other things, to maintain the productivity and stability of ecosystems. Any imbalance in any of these variables increases the risk of instability, threatening the sustainability of the ecosystem. Coastal ecosystems, which are the most vulnerable to these pressures, may reach thresholds of no return, reducing their long-term resilience. The ecosystem services naturally provided by these ecosystems (resources, filtration, bioremediation, sediment stabilisation, blue carbon, etc.) are weakened, which in turn impacts the relationship between human populations and their environment. The research themes of the DISCOVERY team focus on the adaptability and resilience of coastal ecosystems to global changes at different temporal and spatial scales. Within this framework, the DISCOVERY team focuses on the study of populations and communities, their habitats, and associated socio-ecological functions, with a view to understanding habitat/biodiversity relationships and the functioning of socio-ecosystems, for predictive purposes of planning, management, restoration and conservation in the face of global change.

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Structuring

Populations and communities within ecosystems, whether benthic or pelagic, animal or plant, incorporate the effects of global change into their structure and functioning. It is essential to deconvolute the effects of natural variations from those of anthropogenic pressures on the maintenance of biodiversity and ecological functions (e.g. biogeochemistry, material flows, resources, recruitment, migration). The biodiversity of ecosystems is understood here in the broadest sense and is expressed in taxonomic, genetic and functional terms, from the scale of the species to that of ecosystems.

The DISCOVERY team’s research strategy is defined in four Research Areas (RA1-RA4, see figure) which aim to characterise how natural and anthropogenic environmental constraints structure i) the biodiversity of populations and communities (RA1), ii) the life history of individuals, the dynamics of populations and their migrations (RA2), and iii) energy and matter flows within populations, communities and ecosystems (RA3). Ultimately, our research aims to provide tools for understanding the functioning of past and present ecosystems, including their human component, in order to help implement policies for the management, planning and conservation of socio-ecosystems (AR4).

Conceptual diagram of the DISCOVERY team

The work of the DISCOVERY team is carried out in all latitudes. In temperate environments, the DISCOVERY team has acquired long series of past (paleoecology and archaeology) and current observations that provide the starting points for the analysis of socio-ecosystem trajectories. In the polar, sub- and inter-tropical regions, where scientific knowledge is still lacking, the DISCOVERY team will continue its disciplinary research (ecology, biology and biogeochemistry) while initiating interactions between natural and human sciences.

The geographical areas subject to work within the DISCOVERY team are:

• Temperate: Iroise Sea, Rade de Brest, Bay of Biscay, English Channel, New Zealand, Mediterranean;
• Tropicals and sub-tropics: Overseas territories (Antilles, Guyana, Mayotte, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, St Martin), Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Gabon, Galapagos Islands, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Cape Verde , Papua New Guinea;
• Polar and sub-polar: St Pierre and Miquelon, Baltic Sea, Greenland Sea, Barents Sea, Svalbard, Canada (Gulf of St. Lawrence, Baffin Bay, Beaufort Sea), Terre-Adélie.</ li>

Taking into account the complexity of ecosystems at different spatial and temporal scales will be made possible by the combination of multiple tools and approaches developed and used by the team, combining observation, experimentation and modelling:

• Observation: animal and plant taxonomy, molecular taxonomy, biological monitoring, bio-logging, imaging (microscopy, benthic 2D & 3D), active and passive acoustics, trophic biomarkers, time series, sclerochronology, high frequency in situ instrumentation ( acoustics, multi-parameter sensors, remote sensing by drones, satellites, etc.), oceanographic vessels, biostatistics, legislative spatial planning (marine environmental law);
• Experimentation: experimental tanks, microcosms & pelagic and benthic mesocosms (in vitro & in situ), benthic enclosures, in/ex natura ecophysiology bench, sentinel populations;
• Modeling: numerical, bioenergetic, biodemographic and biophysical, trophic, biogeochemical, diagenetic and socio-ecological ecology.

All of this work will be carried out within the framework of large-scale projects on a national, European and international scale (ANR, Biodiversea, Green deal, ERC, RISE, LEFE/EC2CO, OFB, Flagship EUR ISblue, Belmont Forum , ECOSUD, MITI CNRS…), currently in progress or to come (to be submitted), mostly supported by members of the DISCOVERY team. They will also fit into major international networks and/or laboratories (IRP BeBEST2, LMI Discoh 2, Tapioca, GDRi, GDR LIGA and JEAI).