FP6 - HERMES project
Programme: FP 6
Project Title: Hotspot ecosystem research on the margins of European seas
Acronym: Hermes
Duration: 2005-2009
Total Budget : € 15.563.458
Web site: www.eu-hermes.net
Summary: HERMES brought together expertise in biodiversity, geology, sedimentology, physical oceanography, microbiology and biogeochemistry so to better understand the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
HERMES study sites extend from the Arctic to the Black Sea and include biodiversity hotspots such as cold seeps, cold-water coral mounds and reefs, canyons and anoxic environments, and communities found on open slopes. These important systems were chosen as a focus for research due to their possible biological fragility, unique genetic resources, global relevance to carbon cycling and susceptibility to global change and human impact.
HERMES studied "hotspot" ecosystems: discontinuous environments that are constrained by chemical, physical, topographic and geological factors and which contain a wealth of unknown species that thrive in insular habitats. Determining the distribution as well as the resilience of these ecosystems is fundamental to producing plans for their sustainable management.
Contact person in ISMAR: f.trincardi@bo.ismar.cnr.it
Partnership:
The HERMES consortium comprised 50 partners including 9 small companies, from 17 European and neighbouring countries. The partners included small and large institutions and both universities and government laboratories.
- NERC/National Oceanography Centre Southampton - UK
- Royal NIOZ - The Netherlands
- IFREMER - France
- University of Barcelona - Spain
- Hellenic Centre for Marine Research - Greece
- IFM-GEOMAR - Germany
- CNR-ISMAR - Italy
- University of Tromsø - Norway
- Alfred Wegner Institute - Germany
- National University of Ireland
- University of Erlangen - Germany
- University of Gent - Belgium
- CSIC - Spain
- CoNISMa - Italy
- Max Planck Institute - Germany
- CNRS-CEFREM - France
- Instituto Hidrografico - Portgual
- International University Bremen - Germany
- University of Bremen - Germany
- University of Wales - Cardiff
- Institute of Marine research - Norway
- University of Southampton - UK
- University of Goteborg - Sweden
- OGS - Italy
- University of Birmingham - UK
- Netherlands Institute for Ecology
- University of Aberdeen - UK
- University of Liverpool - UK
- DEU Institute of Marine Science and Technology - Turkey
- Scottish Association for Marine Science - UK
- University of Aveiro - Portugal
- GeoEcoMar - Romania
- Intergovermental Oceanographic Commission/UNESCO
- University of Pierre and Marie Curie - France
- University Bretagne Occidentale - France
- Institut Scientifique Rabat - Morocco
- Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas - Ukraine
- The Shirshov Institute - Russia
- Odessa National University - Ukraine
- Lomonosov Moscow State University - Russia
- United Nations Environment Programme
- Challenger Oceanic - UK
- Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research - Norway
- Praesentis - Spain
- Median - Spain
- MMCD - Germany
- Olex AS - Norway
- ArchimediX - Germany
- Proteus - France
- Jobin Yvon - Spain
