Risk on marine ecosystems biodiversity, functioning and services caused by ocean acidification, warming and deoxygenation

As marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) techniques, such as Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE), are increasingly considered within climate mitigation portfolios, evaluating their potential ecological risks, unintended consequences, and environmental trade-offs is essential. Assessing whether mCDR performance and ecosystem responses are site-specific or transferable requires ecosystem-scale testing under realistic, contrasting marine conditions.

This webinar introduces a coordinated transnational mesocosm experimental service supported by EMBRC-ERIC and SeaDataNet (via RBINS). The service links four mesocosm facilities: CRETACOSMOS (HCMR, Greece), FINMARI (University of Helsinki / Tvärminne, Finland), Ramalhete (CCMAR, Portugal), and ECIMAT (University of Vigo, Spain).

By offering joint experimental co-design, harmonized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and FAIR-aligned metadata frameworks, the service provides researchers and innovators with traceable experimental datasets on carbonate-chemistry verification and biological responses across diverse European coastal seas.