The aim of
the group is to increase scientific efficiency of benthal renewable energy
related research, to specify the various cause-effect relationships resulting
from the construction and operation of offshore renewable energy installations,
and to develop guidelines and an overview of existing data for cumulative
impact research by future international collaboration. The outcomes will assist
in improving monitoring concepts in the context of offshore renewable energy constructions
and will also be set within the context of marine spatial planning strategies
and future ecosystem-based management approaches.
Renewable energy developments, in particular wind farms, will most likely become one of the most important and large-scale anthropogenic pressures and will affect benthic communities over various spatial and temporal scales within coastal and offshore ecosystems over the next decades. The identification of these processes is the prerequisite for an efficient, hypothesis-driven approach towards the understanding of the various effects of marine energy developments on the marine benthos as well as on the whole ecosystem.
Benthic organisms have a fundamental place in marine ecosystems and deliver numerous ecosystem goods and services (such as marine biodiversity, long-term carbon storage and natural resources), which are intimately linked to the benthic system. Extensive renewable energy developments have the potential to initiate processes which are expected to affect benthic communities in numerous ways. During the ICES Workshop WKEOMB, a first initiative was started on the identification of benthic cause-effect relationships triggered by offshore wind farms.
Save the date!
On 24 April 2020 WGMBRED co-organizes a symposium on Offshore Renewable Energy Interactions with the Environment: Lessons Learned from Europe. The symposium takes place at the University of Rhode Island, and other organizers include the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, Rhode Island Sea Grant, and the Coastal Resources Center. Learn more.
