T-MEDNet observation network and resource platform on climate change effects in Mediterranean coastal ecosystems

Abstract

Climate change (CC) is having an increasing influence on the abundance, distribution and wellbeing of living organisms worldwide. In the Mediterranean, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) warming is obvious and ecosystems are already impacted by climate change, raising concerns for the conservation of essential marine coastal habitats. The increasing occurrence of mass mortality events affecting the benthic biota and success of thermophilic biota colonizing the Mediterranean Sea are some clear examples of ongoing consequences of environmental changes. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are natural infrastructures for the conservation of marine biodiversity. However, the development of sound management and adaptation plans is often constrained by the lack of information at the appropriate time and space scales. In particular, regarding the strong variability, both spatial and temporal, of hydrological conditions in nearshore and coatal areas