COMARGE (Continental Margin Ecosystems)

Duration: since 2005

Coordination: Myriam Sibuet, Institut Océanographique, France; Robert Carney, Lousiana State University, USA

COMARGE aims are to describe biodiversity patterns of benthic and bentho-demersal communities on continental margins (with a focus on multiple habitats and spatial scales) as well as to identify the contribution of environmental heterogeneities to these patterns.

Contact: M. Klages, T. Soltwedel

CHESS (Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems)

Duration: since 2005

Coordination: Paul Tyler, National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS), UK; Chris German, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA; Eva Ramirez Llodra, Institut de Ciències del Mar, Spanien; Maria Baker, National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS), UK

The main aim of CHESS is to determine the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems at a global scale and to understand the processes driving these ecosystems.

Contact: A. Boetius, F. Wenzhöfer