Marine Forests of animals, plants and algae: nature-based tools to protect and restore biodiversity

RESTORESEAS整合了欧洲及其他地区领先专家正在进行的长期研究，以前所未有的多学科联合方法进行海洋保护。大型藻类、海草和冷水珊瑚的海洋森林是生物多样性丰富的生态系统所依赖的重点分类群，为人类提供基本服务，失去这些分类群是一个灾难性的转折点，导致失去苗圃、庇护所、觅食地、粮食安全和其他生态系统功能，如碳固存，而海草是地球上最有效的生态系统之一。RESTORESEAS是在保护和恢复中气候适应的整体整合，从基因表达到跨海洋分布和长期基线变化，包括在海洋沉积物中留下印记的过去eDNA。它开发了保护和恢复的方法，整合了以前被忽视的微生物和病原体的作用。与过去和未来的气候代理相比，对空间和时间的生物多样性预测将揭示大西洋受气候威胁的海洋森林，因为恢复计划需要气候适应战略的地区。随着时间的推移，生物多样性趋势包括使用互补方法进行的估计-用全球数据训练的模型和生物多样性过去和当前基线的eDNA估计，包括自然和扰动地点古代沉积物的eDNA估计。这些指标与生态系统稳定性临界规模的当地经验性恢复测试（作为长期持久性和生物多样性支持指标进行评估）以及临界点的条件和阈值相结合。为了持续监测恢复和养护的长期效力和效率的结果，海洋生态系统恢复系统将根据使用水体的eDNA的总生物多样性描述符，以及使用相关沉积物的eDNA的长期生物多样性趋势和碳固存，制定生态系统功能指标。RESTORESEAS将证明利用遗传和功能多样性恢复退化生境的概念，包括功能遗传多样性（最佳适应基因型）以及共生体和病原体的多样性和作用。社会成果建立在扩大公民（渔民和教师）在恢复、建立教育、信任、赋权方面融入当地的成功范例做法的基础上，特别是确保在项目结束后，民间社会将长期保持改善这些生境的意愿。在政策层面，我们将继续与当地和全球机构联系和参与，并在BiodivERsA的支持下，就欧盟和联合国战略进行政策沟通。RESTORESEAS将通过超越理论来传播，展示作为榜样的结果，并提供利用我们的支持在全球复制相同倡议的方法。

RESTORESEAS integrates ongoing long-term research lines of leading experts across Europe and beyond in an unprecedented joint multidisciplinary approach for marine conservation. Marine forests of macroalgae, seagrasses and cold water corals are the focus - taxa upon which biodiversity-rich ecosystems depend, that provide essential services for humanity, the loss of which is a catastrophic tipping point of lost nursery, shelter, feeding grounds, food security and other ecosystem functions as carbon sequestration, for which seagrasses are one of the most efficient ecosystems on Earth. RESTORESEAS is a holistic integration of climate-adaptation in conservation and restoration, at functional scales from gene expression to cross-ocean distributions and long-term baseline shifts including past eDNA imprinted in marine sediments. It develops approaches for conservation and restoration integrating previously overlooked roles of microbes and pathogens. Biodiversity predictions over space and time, compared with past and future climate proxies, will reveal climate-threatened marine forests of the Atlantic Ocean, as regions where restoration plans require climate-adapted strategies. Biodiversity tendencies over time includes estimates using complementary approaches - models trained with global data and eDNA estimates of past and current baselines in biodiversity including estimates from eDNA of ancient sediments of natural and disturbed sites. These are integrated with local empirical restoration test of critical sizes for ecosystem stability (assessed as long-term persistence and biodiversity support indicators) and conditions and thresholds for tipping points. For continuous monitoring of outcomes of long-term effectiveness and efficiency of restoration and conservation, RESTORESEAS will develop ecosystem function indicators based on descriptors of total biodiversity using eDNA of the water, and long-term biodiversity tendencies and carbon sequestration using eDNA of relevant sediments. RESTORESEAS will be proof of concept of the use of genetic and functional diversity in restoration of degraded habitats, including functional genetic diversity (best adapted genotypes), and diversity and role of symbionts and pathogens. The societal outcomes build on expanding the already ongoing successful examples practices of local integration of citizens (fishermen and teachers) in restoration, building education, trust, empowerment and especially ensuring that the willingness to improve these habitats will continue in civil society in the long-term after the project ends. At the policy level, we will continue our work with local and global institutional contacts and involvements and with the support of BiodivERsA in policy communication towards the EU and the UN strategies. RESTORESEAS will spread by going beyond theory in demonstrating results that serve as role models, and offering ways to use our support for replication of the same initiatives globally.