OBJECTIVES

AMORE III

Combined Effect of Changing Hydroclimate and Human Activity on Coastal Ecosystem Health

AMORE-III seeks to contribute to the development of Sustainability Science for the management of coastal zones. In particular AMORE-III will address the dual control of changing human activity and climate on eutrophication processes in the Belgian Coastal Zone (EEZ.be) and the feedback effect of eutrophication on goods (newly-deployed offshore mussel farming) and services (atmospheric CO2 absorption) provided by EEZ.be.

As a scientific contribution towards the sustainable use of EEZ.be, the AMORE-III project aims to provide new ecological knowledge, technological developments and upgrading of the existing 3D-MIRO&CO ecological model to:

o Assess the dual role of changing hydro-climate (wind strength and direction, temperature) and nutrient river loads in determining the geographical spreading and the magnitude of Phaeocystis blooms in EEZ.be as well as the role of the coastal area as buffer of increased atmospheric CO2; predict how these might change in the near future (2015) based on realistic scenarios of changing climate and river nutrient loads;

o Assess the impact of Phaeocystis colony spreading on offshore mussel farming and make recommendations for an optimized management;

o Define ecological quality criteria for measuring ecosystem changes and the effectiveness of management and policy applications.