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
        • BBNJ Survey
      • 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
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    • 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

Changing environmental conditions and human activities have major impacts on the distribution and sustainability of living marine resources. This poses a serious challenge to the business and policy that communities are seeking to balance with the societal needs and with environmental sustainability. Large-scale ocean observation is needed to improve our understanding of how deep ocean ecosystems function, their roles as reservoirs of biodiversity and genetic resources, and their health under future scenarios of climate change and human use.

“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.”

Murray Roberts, ATLAS Co-ordinator.

The ATLAS project is striving to improve our understanding of complex deep-sea ecosystems and their associated species, including those that are new to science. Researchers are looking to predict future changes to these ecosystems and species together with their vulnerabilities in the face of climate change. As well as carrying out pioneering research and discovery, ATLAS is developing a scientific knowledge base that can inform the development of international policies to ensure deep-sea Atlantic resources are managed effectively. This will contribute to the European Commission’s long-term “Blue Growth” strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole.

Key Achievements

  • 113 Peer-reviewed publications, including 1 Nature,1 Science and 2 Global Change Biology publications
  • 98 Peer-reviewed publications in preparation
  • Dedicated Frontiers in Marine Science Research Topic ‘Managing deep-sea ecosystems at ocean basin scale’ initiated by ATLAS with 23 papers published to date. This open access Research Topic has received >55K views and >7K article downloads since its launch
  • 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 88.3M persons 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

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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.

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

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