The research findings of recent decades point to significant changes in marine biodiversity: many species are shifting their habitat, leading to new interactions between species in different communities. At the same time, species diversity is declining globally. These developments can be detrimental, as marine biodiversity provides unique and important services to society. Therefore, an effective and science-based policy to protect marine biodiversity is essential. However, the response of biodiversity to climate change is complex and assessments are hampered by the short duration of observation periods, making it difficult to separate natural variability from climate-related trends. Furthermore, an effective marine biodiversity conservation policy requires not only a better understanding of biodiversity dynamics, but also new governance processes and management approaches, such as dynamic, climate-adapted marine protected areas beyond national jurisdiction. Crucially, such policies require structured dialog and communication with stakeholder groups to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and decision-making needs and to ensure the practical relevance and uptake of scientific knowledge.

The interdisciplinary AGELESS project has three overall objectives. Firstly, the rich fossil record of marine plankton communities will be used to learn how marine biodiversity has responded to climate change in the past. Models will then be developed, tested and used to predict how anthropogenic climate change may alter and shift marine species communities in the future. Secondly, this research will be translated into practical policy measures, including effective tools and procedures to protect marine biodiversity. And thirdly, through knowledge transfer in decision-making and governance, this project aims to provide a platform that allows the use of past biodiversity information to be shared in the assessment of current and future biodiversity changes, the establishment of appropriate management approaches and targeted governance options.

AGELESS is part of the Blue Ocean Biodiversity Cluster (BBO). The project consists of five work packages (WP):

• WP1: Co-design and evaluation of biodiversity assessment and conservation in the open ocean
• WP2: Reflective governance of marine biodiversity
• WP3: Reducing uncertainty in past observations of marine biodiversity
• WP4: Using the past to predict future changes in marine biodiversity
• WP5: Project coordination

Ecological Economics deals with WP2: Reflexive governance of marine biodiversity.

In WP2, a comparative analysis of the science-policy interfaces of several marine conservation regimes and assessment processes is carried out, which is comparative in nature and has not been found in the literature to date. In addition, the work in WP2 will make significant contributions to the further development of conservation concepts for marine biodiversity, which are relevant both in the scientific discussion on "marine and ocean governance" and for further political discussion. The scientific findings will be generated both on the basis of expert interviews and the stakeholder dialog processes within the framework of WP1.

September 2024 - August 2027

The AGELESS consortium is part of the BBO cluster, which is funded by the BMBF as part of the Biodiversity in the Blue Ocean funding initiative.

University of Bremen

• MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences

Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

• Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM)
• Ecological Economics
• Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity

Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg