ECOLOGICAL SURVEY

Coastal ecosystem monitoring

The ecological state of an aquatic ecosystem is assessed through its structure and functioning. For this, we use elements of biological quality (abundance and diversity of plant and animal species) but also hydromorphological and physico-chemical elements (oxygen, turbidity, temperature, nutrient concentration, salinity). This state can be evaluated for regulatory needs or in the case of the exploration of unknown sites, inventories, cartography, management, an evaluation of initial or final state of a site, a follow-up of works and its impacts…

The needs for regulatory oversight are defined by public policies, essentially constructed at national and European scales. The implementation of a monitoring program relies on monitoring networks which measure parameters indicative of the state of each quality element and make it possible to follow the evolution of the state of marine ecosystems and of quality coastal waters.

In France, the Water Agency (Agence de l’Eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse)  entrusts these monitoring networks to different partners. To make it easier to consult, the data from the various Mediterranean monitoring networks are grouped together on the same platform created by Andromède oceanologie in partnership with the Water Agency: the MEDTRIX platform. Experts in the marine environment (scientists, managers, technical agents, etc.) thus have free access to spatialized data of very good resolution and to information on quality indicators, anthropogenic pressures, biological, acoustic data, geographic information, etc.

This platform brings together 32 surveillance networks supported by more than twenty partners. Andromède Océanologie has been responsible for several networks for the past ten years: monitoring the bottom temperature, monitoring ichthyological assemblies (fish communities), surface analysis network for marine habitats, biological monitoring of two key ecosystems in the Mediterranean (posidonia meadows and coralligenous reefs), followed by anthropic pressures. The state of health of these ecosystems and their evolution in time and space are assessed from monitoring methods developed by us (acoustic telemetry, photogrammetry, photographic quadrats, 360 ° cameras, etc.).

Thanks to its experience, the multiplicity of monitoring networks to its credit, its research collaborations and its ability to innovate and develop monitoring methods, Andromède Océanologie can conduct knowledge and monitoring projects of marine ecosystems (from the surface in the mesophotic zone) in a regulatory framework as for other needs (knowledge, impact monitoring, etc.).