Ipoc The combined effects of pollution an climate change on aquatic ecosystem production

Anthropogenic pressures, including chemical contamination, global warming and the overexploitation of bioresources, are driving global change. Aquatic organisms are demonstrating both behavioural and physiological types of adaptive response, which in turn have repercussions for their biological traits and the spatiotemporal dynamic.

The IPOC project plans to develop an improved toolkit for the scientific community, consultancies and professional bodies involved in monitoring aquatic environments. This will allow them to diagnose the health of essential links in the aquatic ecosystem production chain and assess the risk to shellfish stocks at current production sites which may be impacted by anthropogenic pressures.

This project will focus on the continuum between the ocean and freshwater environments, which varies greatly on spatial and temporal levels. Estuaries are acknowledged to be the main sites impacted by human industrial, urban and agricultural activity.