Largest ever study of human impact on European seas and coastal areas

Traversing European Coastlines (TREC) will examine the biodiversity and molecular adaptability of life at the molecular scale at 120 coastal sampling sites across 46 regions in 22 European countries during 2023 and 2024. It is the first continent-wide project of its type and combines the rich expertise and infrastructure of Europe’s life sciences laboratory (EMBL), the Tara Ocean Foundation, the Tara OceanS Consortium, the European Marine Biology Resource Centre, and numerous European partners.

Molecular basis of species’ interactions

Scientists will collect soil, sediment, aerosol and water samples, as well as selected model organisms and numerous environmental data. Their work will cover different scales of life – from viruses and bacteria to algae, plants and animals – on land, in river estuaries, and at sea, EMBL writes in a press release.

They will study the molecular basis of species’ interactions, the role of organisms in their habitats, and how organisms respond to and at the same time influence their environment. In addition, the researchers will collect information on factors such as the presence of pollutants, antibiotics, pesticides, or hormones, as well as temperature, salinity, and oxygen levels.

Pan-European research

“Marine biologists, ecologists, and environmentalists have studied water and soil habitats for centuries. With the technologies that molecular biologists have to hand today, we are able to study these ecosystems at unprecedented detail,” said Professor Peer Bork, Director of EMBL Heidelberg and coordinator of the TREC project. “At the same time, the pan-European nature of this project means that samples will be taken in a standardised fashion. This will make it possible to compare and probe data across Europe instead of a regional or national system in a way that was not previously possible.”

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Understand future impact

Europe’s coastlines are environments that represent key ecosystems that host an extremely rich diversity of life and play critical roles in the stability and sustainability of wider ecosystems. Forty percent of the European population lives within a coastal region.

Anthropogenic interferences such as pollution, farming, and building construction, as well as the impact of climate change, are leading to accelerated loss of species’ genetic diversity and destruction of functional ecosystems. To minimise the future impact of such external factors on coastal biodiversity, it’s important to understand the molecular and cellular basis of how organisms interact in ecosystems and react to external pressures in the context of their natural habitats.

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