In marine coastal ecosystems, roughly between 30m and 200m depth, we find the so-called ‘mesophotic zone’. In this environment light is extremely reduced, but conditions are ideal for the development of alternative forms of forests: the “animal forests”. These ecosystems are made by benthic sessile species, whose distribution, ecology and conservation status are still under severe scientific scrutiny. In the mesophotic zone, the light is extremely reduced but there are still forests: the so-called “animal forests”. Made of benthic sessile species, the ecology, health status and distribution of these forests are almost completely unknown.
Partners
- Laetitia Hedouin (CRIOBE/CNRS)
- Francisco Otero-Ferrer (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
- Lucia Di Iorio (CEFREM, University of Perpignan)
- Eric Parmentier (Université de Liège)
- Charlotte Dromard (Université des Antilles)
- Serge Planes (CRIOBE/CNRS)
- Valeriano Parravicini (CRIOBE/EPHE)
- Giacomo Milisenda (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dhorn)
- Giovanni Strona (University of Helsinki)
- Vianney Denis (National Taiwan University, Institute of Oceanography)
- Lorenzo Bramanti (LECOB/CNRS)
- Katell Guizien (LECOB/CNRS)
- Nadine Lebris (LECOB/Sorbonne Université)
- Cristina Romera Castillo (ICM/CSIC)
- Elisabetta Manea (CNR-ISMAR Venezia)
- Steeve Comeau (LOV/CNRS)
- Sergio Rossi (University of Salento)
- Joachim Claudet (CRIOBE/Sorbonne Université)
- Bruno Danis (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
