BioDivMed 2023 Mission: Environmental DNA for unprecedented mapping of Mediterranean marine biodiversity
Under the joint leadership of the Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency, the University of Montpellier, and a joint laboratory funded by the ANR between the Marbec research unit and the company SpyGen, the BioDivMed 2023 Mission will carry out a synchronized and standardized inventory of living organisms on the French Mediterranean coast and in the Pelagos sanctuary using environmental DNA (eDNA). This unique and exemplary partnership in the service of marine biodiversity also brings together Andromède Océanologie, the Vigilife alliance, and two philanthropic associations from Nice: OceanoScientific and We are Méditerranée.
This exceptional operation will enable the first ever detailed, synchronized mapping of marine biodiversity in the French Mediterranean, from the coastal zone, including lagoons, river mouths, and ports, to the Pelagos sanctuary between Corsica and the mainland.
700 DNA samples over 2,000 kilometers
What is the objective of the BioDivMed Mission? To determine and better understand the occurrence of fish, crustacean, and marine mammal species, then establish a detailed map of marine biodiversity. To do this, environmental DNA (eDNA) technology will be used to enable a standardized inventory of the Mediterranean, conducted in a synchronized manner through four sampling campaigns: over a period of four months, more than 700 eDNA filtrations will be carried out in marine and brackish waters spanning more than 2,000 kilometers.
eDNA metabarcoding is a new technology that enables aquatic biodiversity to be inventoried via the DNA traces left by species in their environment. Filtering and analyzing eDNA enables the detection of numerous species and therefore offers significant potential for developing a new generation of indicators of the health of marine waters under human impact or protection measures.
Never before has such a synchronized and standardized inventory promoting marine biodiversity been undertaken on French territory.
This unprecedented effort is the result of collaboration and synergy between four oceanographic campaigns planned for this year between May and August 2023:
- PISCIS, a campaign to monitor the health of Posidonia and coralligenous seagrass beds, implemented on behalf of the Water Agency by Andromède océanologie;
- PIAF, a study of marine life in soft and sandy substrates, is coordinated by the University of Montpellier;
- The OceanoScientific Expedition will travel along the Mediterranean coastline from the Italian border to the Spanish border to collect eDNA samples; to inform and raise awareness about issues relating to the ocean and its biodiversity by carrying out the Sea & Professions Tour of the Exemplary Mediterranean Coastline program – Famex 2030;
- The Pelagos expedition by the We are Méditerranée association, whose ambition is to study marine life in the pelagic zone, particularly that of the Pelagos sanctuary, a marine protected area (MPA) aimed at protecting marine mammals in a triangle comprising the French and Italian continents and including Corsica at its apex.
Thanks to this cooperation, an initial map of marine biodiversity (with a resolution of 10 kilometers) will be made available to all stakeholders and managers of coastal and marine areas on the Medtrix and Vigilife Maps platforms (the Global Observatory of Life, of which the University of Montpellier and SpyGen are two of the founding members) in 2024.
Key dates for the BioDivMed Mission 2023:
- April 27, 2023: Launch of the PIAF program from Carnon
- May 9, 2023: Launch of the Pelagos expedition from the port of Nice
- May 20, 2023: Launch ofthe OceanoScientific Expedition from Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône
- June 8, 2023: Presentation of the BioDivMed 2023 Mission in Montpellier in the presence of partners and the press
- June 6, 2023: Launch of the PISCIS program from Carnon
- June 8, 2024: Presentation of final results and mapping of French Mediterranean marine biodiversity
* June 8 is World Oceans Day.
DNA(e): An innovative technique for cataloging marine biodiversity
Until now, marine wildlife monitoring has mainly relied on techniques such as fishing, visual surveys using diving and underwater cameras, or acoustics. However, these techniques are invasive, even destructive, and incomplete, as many species are not detected because they are elusive, too small, or rare.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a new technology that allows aquatic biodiversity to be inventoried using DNA traces collected from the environment. All species constantly secrete fluids and cells that contain DNA that can persist in the environment for several hours. These eDNA traces are used to identify all species of a given taxonomic group present in the environment studied using a metabarcoding technique. For more information on the technology: www.vigilife.org/nos-technologies
Partners
This project is fully in line with theUniversity of Montpellier's strategy, which aims to bring together a scientific, institutional, and economic community to respond to three major and interdependent challenges, aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change: feeding, caring for, and protecting.
Our project lies at the intersection of the challenges of feeding and protecting, as the sea is a source of food whose sustainable exploitation must be ensured through protection and management measures. This dual challenge is also central to the Marbec laboratory, whose main objective is to reconcile exploitation and conservation of marine biodiversity.
The Water Agency is a public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of the Environment, whose mission is to restore water and aquatic environments to good condition. In accordance with the polluter pays principle, it collects taxes paid by all users: households, local authorities, industrialists, and farmers, based on the volumes they withdraw and the pollution they discharge. The money collected is reinvested in local authorities, industrialists, farmers, and associations that work to improve water quality and the environment: improving sanitation systems, reducing pollution from toxic substances, saving and sharing water, restoring the quality of water catchments degraded by diffuse pollution (pesticides and nitrates), preserving strategic resources for drinking water, restoring the natural functioning of rivers, marine environments, and degraded or threatened wetlands, etc. The water agency operates within the framework of a 2019-2024 intervention program that sets out the main priorities for action over a six-year period. The agency has an annual aid capacity of around €440 million and employs 330 people.
SpyGen is a mission-driven company specializing in rare environmental DNA. The first company in the world to offer environmental DNA expertise since its creation in 2011, SpyGen develops and deploys the most effective methods possible in the field to carry out inventory and monitoring programs over time for aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity across all living groups. In marine environments, scientific studies and expeditions carried out by SpyGen and its partners in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans have demonstrated the effectiveness of environmental DNA methods for monitoring biodiversity, particularly megafauna. In 2021, SpyGen launched the multi-stakeholder Vigilife platform in collaboration with several international public and private partners. The platform aims to establish a global biodiversity monitoring observatory using environmental DNA technologies and to improve our knowledge of all living organisms.
Since 2021, Marbec and SpyGen have set up a joint laboratory, or LabCom (Environmental DNA Diagnosis of Marine Environments: Diag-ADNe), funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), which serves as a catalyst for the development of new tools to overcome methodological barriers and support a new long-term joint industrial and academic strategy with the aim of establishing leadership in a rapidly growing field.
Andromède Océanologie is an SME founded in 2008 by Laurent Ballesta, Pierre Descamp, and Florian Holon. Its objectives are to conduct all types of projects related to the study and promotion of the marine environment, to combine science and images, and to raise awareness of the richness and fragility of the marine environment.
Andromède Océanologie's activities are structured around three main areas, with a focus on continuous innovation:
- The image: scientific expeditions, films, books, photos with more than 25,000 shots by Laurent Ballesta, internationally renowned diver and underwater photographer;
- Biological monitoring and habitat mapping. Andromède thus operates several networks for monitoring the ecological status of coastal waters.
- Ecological engineering: management and restoration of marine ecosystems, support, consulting, expertise, etc.
Among Andromède Océanologie's latest achievements are, for example, the Medtrix mapping platform, which provides the results of various coastal water monitoring projects, most of the maps of coastal marine biocenoses in the French Mediterranean, and continuous mapping (1:10,000) and regular updates (Donia Expert project), mapping of coastal pressures/activities (Impact project), the Donia community smartphone and tablet app to assist recreational boating, the transplantation of 500 m² of seagrass beds during the extension of the Portier cove (Monaco), the Gombessa expeditions and their documentaries (Coelacanth, Antarctica, Mystery of the Grouper, 700 Sharks, exploration of the Mediterranean using saturation diving, etc.), books of underwater photography (Planète Mers, Adélie: terre-mer, Une vie dans le Port de Marseille, Secrets de Méditerranée, etc.), photography exhibitions, etc.
We are Méditerranée is a non-profit environmental protection association founded by nature photographer Greg Lecoeur. Its main objective is to preserve the Mediterranean Sea. Its actions aim to combine art and science in an effort to raise public awareness. "Expedition Pelagos" is a project to raise awareness and promote Mediterranean biodiversity within the Pelagos sanctuary, an invitation to reconnect with nature. In order to contribute to a better knowledge and understanding of marine ecosystems, several scientific missions will be carried out during sailing expeditions. Using the prism of images, nature photographer Greg Lecoeur and his team offer us a new perspective on Mare Nostrum, inspiring us to take action and protect the environment on which we all depend. At the end of the project, a major communication campaign will be launched through reports and photographic exhibitions, films, conferences, and presentations to schoolchildren.
OceanoScientific is a philanthropic association of general interest created in Paris on January 7, 2001, and now based in Nice. It is chaired by Yvan Griboval, a navigator and explorer who was previously an offshore racer and professional journalist, as well as an organizer of internationally renowned sailing competitions and a specialist in marketing and event communication. OceanoScientific raises awareness and educates the general public with the aim of promoting respect and love for the ocean and its biodiversity in order to encourage its preservation for future generations. contributes to the implementation of CO2-free oceanographic sailing expeditions in little or unexplored maritime areas to increase knowledge of the ocean, the causes and consequences of climate change and pollution; focuses its efforts on helping to safeguard the genetic heritage of marine organisms threatened with extinction, particularly those found in coral reefs, by promoting their value for health and well-being in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol; implements all actions designed to mobilize young people in their school and higher education cycles to encourage them to develop careers related to the ocean, while respecting nature and the harmony of its biodiversity; acts in accordance with the standards and recommendations of United Nations (UN) agencies and the international scientific community, in conjunction with non-governmental organizations dedicated to knowledge and preservation of the ocean and its biodiversity.
