About

THE PROJECT

The accelerating threats of climate change and biodiversity loss are critically impacting human well-being. Polar regions, which are key indicators of our planet’s health, are under the stress of rapidly escalating climate warming, whilst remaining largely unexplored due to their remote location.

This lack of research has led to substantial gaps in our understanding of carbon dynamics and biodiversity changes in these ecosystems, weakening our ability to accurately measure polar carbon stocks and project climate feedback mechanisms.

POMP’s mission is to fill these knowledge gaps and deepen our understanding of role of polar regions in climate change mitigation. By combining existing knowledge from prior and current EU projects with the data and tools that POMP will generate, we aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of these critical ecosystems.

POMP | Project

MAIN GOALS

Scientific Discovery and Innovation

Advancing our understanding of the role of polar marine ecosystems in climate and biodiversity, POMP aims to fill crucial knowledge gaps about the extent and magnitude of polar blue carbon sinks.

Enhancing Projection and Assessment Tools

Developing innovative CO₂ mitigation assessment tools, integrating ecological models with in situ and remote sensing data, to contribute significantly to national and international climate strategies.

Informing Policy and Management

Bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and practical applications, POMP strives to inform and shape effective environmental policies, catering to the urgent need for sustainable management of polar marine habitats.

Start of the project

Kick-off Meeting

Annual Meeting

Assesment of the Project

Annual Meeting

End of the Project

FEV 2024

APR 2024

APR 2025

JAN 2026

APR 2026

JAN 2028

POMP | Project

WORK PACKAGES

WP1

Key emerging coastal habitats: status and carbon sink potential

WP leaders

Amanda Poste (NINA) and Nadescha Zwerschke (GINR)

Goal

To understand the role of emerging polar coastal habitats for C-capture, storage and sequestration (including beyond the coastal zone), and the environmental controls on potential coastal hotspots for C-uptake and/or burial.

Tasks

Task 1.1 – Mapping and characterising polar coastal blue carbon habitats.
Task 1.2 – CO₂ capture potential of coastal primary producers and controls on detrital POM/DOM production and release by macroalgae.
Task 1.3 – Reactivity, mineralization potential and export of C captured along polar coasts.
Task 1.4 – Emergent benthic carbon-stock with increasing climate change: determining mechanisms, potential and threats to negative feedback loops.

WP2

Emerging oceanic habitats

WP leaders

Eva Leu (APN) and Marit Reigstad (UiT)

Goal

To understand the role of emerging polar oceanic habitats for C-capture, storage and sequestration in relation to their biodiversity, and identify the most important environmental controls on potential shelf and off-shelf hotspots for C-uptake and burial.

Tasks

Task 2.1 – Biodiversity and carbon uptake in recently emerging oceanic habitats: timing, partitioning and environmental control.
Task 2.2 – Fate of primary producers: export and storage.
Task 2.3 – Carbon storage and sequestration in relation to taxonomic and functional diversity of benthic communities.

WP3

Advancing ocean models and remote sensing for ecosystem management

WP leaders

Judith Hauck (AWI) and Mathieu Ardyna (CNRS)

Goal

To develop model parametrizations, remote sensing algorithms and Lagrangian diagnostics to quantify polar ocean mitigation potential and emerging habitats of the main phyto- and zooplankton groups and benthic vegetation and their role for carbon uptake, storage and sequestration, as well as their vulnerability to climate change and biological carbon-climate feedbacks for reduced uncertainty in model projections.

Tasks

Task 3.1 – Development of tools: large-scale open ocean and coastal models and remote sensing algorithms for closure of knowledge gaps and reduced uncertainty in model projections
Task 3.2 – Large scale assessment of polar ecosystem CO₂ mitigation potential: current and newly emerging habitats of primary producers, their carbon storage and sequestration potential (biogeochemical provinces), vulnerability to past and future climate change and biological carbon-climate feedbacks.
Task 3.3 – Carbon short-cuts through particle injection pumps: the subduction and lipid pumps.

WP4

Strategies for managing carbon and biodiversity rich habitats

WP leaders

Paul Renaud (APN) and William Austin (StAU)

Goal

To fill knowledge gaps for management based on findings from WPs 1, 2 and 3 and to propose actions in support of sustainable management of both biodiversity and natural carbon stocks.

Tasks

Task 4.1 – Interactions between emerging carbon habitats and knowledge of C- and biodiversity-rich shelf habitats, understanding emerging pressures/threats and management constraints.
Task 4.2 – Management potential for protection and enhancement of the carbon sink capacity of benthic blue carbon ecosystems.
Task 4.3 – Threats and pressures to carbon- and biodiversity- rich systems and mitigation potential of conservation/MPA actions.
Task 4.4 – Integrating carbon stocks and sinks into polar marine management policies.

WP5

Outreach and inter-project coordination and synergy

WP leaders

Miguel Leal (SCC) and Dorte Krause-Jensen (AU)

Goal

To ensure effective external communication of the project and its results to the general public, decision makers, and the scientific community, as well as inter-project coordination and synergy. Ultimately, WP5 aims to ensure broad societal communication of lessons learned, ensure that results are available for exploitation by key stakeholders and the scientific community, and promote a strong communication and exchange of information with other European projects within the scope of marine biodiversity, climate change, and blue carbon.

Tasks

Task 5.1 – Branding and DEC plan.
Task 5.2 – Website, social media and flyer.
Task 5.3 – Synergy with other projects.
Task 5.4 – Outreach to the general public.
Task 5.5 – Dissemination to scientific community.
Task 5.6 – Dissemination to managers and policy makers.

WP6

Project coordination, management and reporting

WP leaders

Mikael Sejr (AU) and Jakob Thyrring (AU)

Goal

To ensure proper coordination and management of the project, in accordance with ethical, gender and equity guidance, within the consortium, between the consortium and the EC, including reporting. The WP is designed to ensure the achievement of project objectives and deliverables, by means of an adequate use of the resources allocated to each partner and WP.

Tasks

Task 6.1 – Description of Work (DoW) and consortium agreement.
Task 6.2 – Scientific coordination.
Task 6.3 – Risk analysis and management.
Task 6.4 – Open Science and data management coordination.
Task 6.5 – Reports and financial statements.
Task 6.6 – Ethics, equity and gender balance.

WP1

Key emerging coastal habitats: status and carbon sink potential

WP leaders

Amanda Poste (NINA) and Nadescha Zwerschke (GINR)

Goal

Tasks

Task 1.1 – Mapping and characterising polar coastal blue carbon habitats.
Task 1.2 – CO₂ capture potential of coastal primary producers and controls on detrital POM/DOM production and release by macroalgae.
Task 1.3 – Reactivity, mineralization potential and export of C captured along polar coasts.
Task 1.4 – Emergent benthic carbon-stock with increasing climate change: determining mechanisms, potential and threats to negative feedback loops.

WP2

Emerging oceanic habitats

WP leaders

Eva Leu (APN) and Marit Reigstad (UiT)

Goal

Tasks

Task 2.1 – Biodiversity and carbon uptake in recently emerging oceanic habitats: timing, partitioning and environmental control.
Task 2.2 – Fate of primary producers: export and storage.
Task 2.3 – Carbon storage and sequestration in relation to taxonomic and functional diversity of benthic communities.

WP3

Advancing ocean models and remote sensing for ecosystem management

WP leaders

Judith Hauck (AWI) and Mathieu Ardyna (CNRS)

Goal

Tasks

Task 3.1 – Development of tools: large-scale open ocean and coastal models and remote sensing algorithms for closure of knowledge gaps and reduced uncertainty in model projections
Task 3.2 – Large scale assessment of polar ecosystem CO₂ mitigation potential: current and newly emerging habitats of primary producers, their carbon storage and sequestration potential (biogeochemical provinces), vulnerability to past and future climate change and biological carbon-climate feedbacks.
Task 3.3 – Carbon short-cuts through particle injection pumps: the subduction and lipid pumps.

WP4

Strategies for managing carbon and biodiversity rich habitats

WP leaders

Paul Renaud (APN) and William Austin (StAU)

Goal

To fill knowledge gaps for management based on findings from WPs 1, 2 and 3 and to propose actions in support of sustainable management of both biodiversity and natural carbon stocks.

Tasks

Task 4.1 – Interactions between emerging carbon habitats and knowledge of C- and biodiversity-rich shelf habitats, understanding emerging pressures/threats and management constraints.
Task 4.2 – Management potential for protection and enhancement of the carbon sink capacity of benthic blue carbon ecosystems.
Task 4.3 – Threats and pressures to carbon- and biodiversity- rich systems and mitigation potential of conservation/MPA actions.
Task 4.4 – Integrating carbon stocks and sinks into polar marine management policies.

WP5

Outreach and inter-project coordination and synergy

WP leaders

Miguel Leal (SCC) and Dorte Krause-Jensen (AU)

Goal

Tasks

Task 5.1 – Branding and DEC plan.
Task 5.2 – Website, social media and flyer.
Task 5.3 – Synergy with other projects.
Task 5.4 – Outreach to the general public.
Task 5.5 – Dissemination to scientific community.
Task 5.6 – Dissemination to managers and policy makers.

WP6

Project coordination, management and reporting

WP leaders

Mikael Sejr (AU) and Jakob Thyrring (AU)

Goal

Tasks

Task 6.1 – Description of Work (DoW) and consortium agreement.
Task 6.2 – Scientific coordination.
Task 6.3 – Risk analysis and management.
Task 6.4 – Open Science and data management coordination.
Task 6.5 – Reports and financial statements.
Task 6.6 – Ethics, equity and gender balance.

POMP | Project

LEARNING SITES

LS1

LS2

LS3

LS4

LS5

LS6

LS10

LS11

LS8

LS9

LS12

POMP | Project

Key Messages

Climate Change Beneath the Ice: Hidden Impacts at the Poles

The melting of sea ice is a well-documented impact of rising global temperatures. Yet, it is just one amidst many unknown consequences of climate change in the polar environments. Polar areas remain largely unexplored due to their remoteness, particularly regarding the biogeochemical responses to the physical changes brought on by climate change. For example, it is expected that reduced ice cover increases sunlight exposure on the seafloor in shallow waters, and that the sea ice melts earlier during the summer season. However, the impacts on polar primary production and biodiversity are still unclear.

Blue Carbon at the Poles: Primary Production and Fate of Captured Carbon

Marine primary producers in the polar regions play a crucial role in capturing and converting atmospheric CO2 into organic matter for their growth. Part of this production enters marine food chains, part of this production is decomposed and released as CO2, while only a small fraction is eventually stored over the long-term in shelf sediments and in the deep sea. This ocean-captured carbon is known as blue carbon and is key to the functioning of polar carbon cycles and in the biological carbon pump. The marine primary producers responsible for these processes are incredibly diverse, from phytoplankton to macroalgae, seagrasses and microphytobenthos. The fate of the organic matter produced by polar marine primary producers is currently poorly constrained, but is critical to understanding the degree to which this captured carbon can be buried and stored over long time periods.

Blue Carbon Habitats and the Mitigation Potential of Polar Oceans

Blue carbon habitats refer to marine and coastal ecosystems that capture and store carbon from the atmosphere, and which can be managed. In the polar regions, the relevant coastal blue carbon ecosystems include kelp forests, salt marshes and seagrass meadows and fjord systems. Some of them are particularly effective at capturing carbon and contributing to carbon storage in the ocean. Non-coastal blue carbon is also relevant as phytoplankton blooms not only feed higher trophic levels in the pelagic but also at the sea floor, through a high export of organic carbon. Management to protect and increase key habitats that capture carbon and key sink areas in the seafloor could potentially contribute to climate change mitigation while also supporting biodiversity. Saltmarshes and seagrasses are acknowledged manageable blue carbon habitats storing carbon in the sediment, which can be quantified. Kelp forests, by contrast, grow on hard substrates which do not accumulate carbon, but part of their production is exported to carbon sinks beyond the habitat, and as this contribution is challenging to quantify and manage kelps are considered “emerging blue carbon habitats”.

Data and Models to Map Blue Carbon and Biodiversity Hotspots

Knowing the locations of blue carbon and biodiversity hotspots and the processes behind the carbon cycle is crucial to preserve and maximise their mitigation potential. Currently, our understanding on how these ecosystems respond to climate change is limited, particularly how it impacts their capacity to capture and store CO2. The solution to these knowledge gaps lies in combining empirical data and models to accurately quantify and map blue carbon hotspots. This will also help monitor how ecosystems change over time and upscale those insights to similar areas.

Blue Carbon Habitats and the Mitigation Potential of Polar Oceans

New and precise databases on polar blue carbon habitat biodiversity, distribution and functioning are indispensable to devise effective strategies for their conservation and management. Only then can policymakers and conservationists take informed action towards safeguarding these ecosystems and their rich biodiversity. Without this type of knowledge, efforts to mitigate climate change impacts may fall short, compromising the health of our planet’s polar regions.