CCTBON – Atlantic Ocean Coupled Coastal Temperature and Biodiversity Observation Network

 

Rocky shores are among the most thermally dynamic environments on Earth, but their thermal and biodiversity patterns remain poorly understood at continental and decadal scales. This, in turn, negatively impacts our ability to understand the link between temperature and biodiversity within the context of Global Warming.
CCTBON will make use of new, state-of-the-art temperature loggers designed by our group, and the adoption of streamlined biodiversity surveying procedures, to bypassing most issues encountered by other similar networks and implement the largest sustained temperature and biodiversity observation network of its kind in the entire globe. Focusing on a collaborative approach, the CCTBON network will comprise a lead research team at CIBIO and several regional/local collaborating research teams, deploying loggers and collecting simple, standardized biodiversity survey data from over 160 locations all over the Atlantic Ocean.
We will develop intuitive tools to assist teams during fieldwork and ensure that tasks are performed with minimal opportunities for errors. The unique coupled temperature and biodiversity dataset assembled will allow for the analysis of the link between thermal envelopes and biodiversity at an unprecedented level of detail and spatial scope. All data outputs will be made fully available to the public, and citizen science opportunities will be explored.