BIODIVERSITY ASPECT
Halifax’s journey around all the Mediterranean basin is also a good opportunity to collect data about marine biodiversity at a large scale.
Monitoring biodiversity erosion and current ecological disturbances require to set up specific means to allow a better understanding of ecosystems and species functioning in order to improve their protection.
In that way this expedition will also contribute to better biodiversity by studying:
1- Plankton diversity and ecology
2- Cetacean ecology, particularly the habitat and conservation state of species.
3- The massive development of jellyfish swarms formed by Pelagia noctiluca in relation to environmental conditions (this section is included within the “PACA Jellyfish project”).
4- Genetic diversity of cystoseira populations: cystoseira being an endangered species of algae for which it is important to know the population genetic dynamics and variability.
