atlas - a transatlantic assessment and deep-water ecosystem-based spatial management plan for Europe
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  • Home
  • About ATLAS
    • ATLAS work packages
      • WP1 Ocean Dynamics Driving Ecosystem Response
      • WP2 Functional Ecosystems
      • WP3 Biodiversity and Biogeography
      • WP4 Connected Resources
      • WP5 Valuing Ecosystem Services and Blue Growth Potential
      • WP6 Maritime Spatial Planning
      • WP7 Policy Integration to Inform Key Agreements
      • WP8 Open Science Resources for Stakeholders
      • WP9 Dissemination, Knowledge Transfer and Outreach
      • WP10 Co-ordination & Management
    • ATLAS case studies
      • Case Study 1. LoVe Observatory
      • Case Study 2. Faroe Shetland Channel UK
      • Case Study 3. Rockall Bank, northern NE Atlantic
      • Case Study 4. Mingulay Reef
      • Case Study 5. Porcupine Seabight
      • Case Study 6. Bay of Biscay
      • Case Study 7. Gulf of Cádiz / Strait of Gibraltar/Alborán Sea
      • Case Study 8. Azores
      • Case Study 9. Reykjanes Ridge
      • Case Study 10. Davis Strait, Eastern Arctic
      • Case Study 11. Flemish Cap
      • Case Study 12. Mid-Atlantic Canyons
    • ATLAS consortium
  • News
    • ATLAS news
    • Cruises
      • RRS Discovery expedition to the Darwin Mounds
      • Amundsen 2019 Update!
      • Benthic landers successfully recovered from the Davis Strait!
      • Life on board the CCGS Amundsen - the sequel
      • Life on board the CCGS Amundsen
      • Chasing corals - a journalist's report on the ATLAS expedition to Rockall Bank
    • Newsletters
    • Press
    • Press Releases
      • Significant changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns - April 2020
      • ATLAS Adventures at home - April 2020
      • Major Impacts Deep Atlantic - Feb 2020
      • ATLAS at Ocean Business - April 2019 press release
      • WCMB - May 2018 Press Release
      • Oceano Azul - June 2018 Press Release
      • Weakening Atlantic Ocean Circulation - April 2018 Press Release
      • Diving Deep for New Collaborations - July 2017 Press Release
      • Deep in the Atlantic Ocean - June 2017 Press Release
      • Climate Change Makes for Lonelier Corals - November 2016
      • Biggest ever assessment of Atlantic deep-sea ecosystems gets underway - June 2016
  • Resources
    • Deliverables, publications and research topic
    • Science-Policy Documents
    • Factsheets and brochures
    • Data resources
      • How to deposit data sets at PANGAEA
      • How to deposit publications at Zenodo
      • Explore ATLAS data map viewer
    • Horizon Results Platform
    • Log in to ATLAS partners' area
  • Education
    • Portfolio overview
    • Public engagement
    • Activity mat
    • Education packs
      • Animal, vegetable, mineral?
      • Hydrothermal vents
      • Ocean importance
      • Ocean acidification
      • Pressure in the deep
      • Taxonomy challenge
      • Threats to coral reefs
      • Lego design time!
    • Interactive School Workshop
    • ROV simulator game
    • Spectacular! Colouring Pages
    • Which deep-sea creature are you?
  • Media
    • Image gallery
    • ATLAS videos
  • Contact ATLAS
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  • CWC_eng_02_reduced
    A transatlantic assessment
    and deep-water ecosystem-based
    spatial management plan for Europe
  • CWC_eng_02_reduced
    A transatlantic assessment
    and deep-water ecosystem-based
    spatial management plan for Europe
  • Latest News
  • Deliverables & publications

The deep sea is the last frontier on Earth. Yet at a time of unprecedented global change this frontier is under increasing pressure from human activities. Between 2016 and 2020 the ATLAS project worked across the North Atlantic to improve our understanding of complex deep-sea ecosystems in a changing ocean. ATLAS assembled the interdisciplinary expertise spanning social and natural sciences, environmental economics, policy and governance needed not only to develop new knowledge but to bring this straight to those shaping ocean policies at national, regional and international levels.

“As the birthplace of deep-sea biology and the cradle of oceanography, the North Atlantic is the place we should know best, but only in the last 20 years have we uncovered how varied and vulnerable its deep-sea habitats really are.”

J Murray Roberts, ATLAS Co-ordinator.

The work of ATLAS continues through the H2020 iAtlantic Project (2019-23). Follow the link to know more about iAtlantic work in the North and South Atlantic

ATLAS Key Achievements

  • 133 Peer-reviewed publications, including 1 Nature, 1 Science, 1 in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, and 2 Global Change Biology publications
  • 53 Peer-reviewed publications in preparation/under review
  • Dedicated Frontiers in Marine Science Research Topic ‘Managing deep-sea ecosystems at ocean basin scale’ initiated by ATLAS with 28 papers published by end 2020
  • 45 Offshore research expeditions  
  • 72 researchers and 10 PhD students employed 
  • 23 workshops held covering Deep-sea Species Distribution Modelling (Montreal, Canada); Modelling Connectivity (Edinburgh, UK); Conservation Management Issues (Montpellier, France); Good Environmental Status (Mallorca, Spain); Science, Policy & Blue Growth (Southampton, UK); Supporting Blue Growth (Dublin, Ireland)
  • ATLAS media reach estimated at over 400 million with coverage including BBC (Radio and TV), Sky News, The Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Guardian, Deutsche Welle and NPR podcast
  • ATLAS results have reached approximately 2.05M in policy, 2.07M in industry and over 2.13M members of the scientific community
  • ATLAS won the 2020 Atlantic Project Award from the European Commission for ‘Developing International Cooperation’

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No 678760 (ATLAS). This output reflects only the author’s view and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Background image courtesy of Esri and its third party licensors: see details here.

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© 2020 atlas - a transatlantic assessment and deep-water ecosystem-based spatial management plan for Europe

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