The objective of the APPEAL project was to develop an integrated approach to measure the effects of floating offshore wind farms on the functioning of coastal ecosystems.

The consequences of climate change for marine organisms are now well-known, and include metabolism and behavior modification, distribution area shifts and changes in the community. In the Bay of Biscay, the potential environmental niches of subtropical non-indigenous species (NIS) are projected to expand as a response to sea temperature rise by the mid-century under the RCP8.5 climate change scenario. In this context, this study aims to project the combined effects of changes in indigenous species distribution and metabolism and NIS arrivals on the functioning of the Bay of Biscay trophic network. To do this, we created six different Ecopath food web models: a “current situation” trophic model (2007–2016) and five “future” trophic models. The latter five models included various NIS biomass combinations to reflect different potential scenarios of NIS arrivals. For each model, eight Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) indices were calculated, describing the properties of the food web resulting from the sum of interactions between organisms. Our results illustrate that rising temperature increases the quantity of energy passing through the system due to increased productivity. A decrease in the biomass of some trophic groups due to the reduction of their potential environmental niches also leads to changes in the structure of the trophic network. The arrival of NIS is projected to change the fate of organic matter within the ecosystem, with higher cycling, relative ascendency, and a chain-like food web. It could also cause new trophic interactions that could lead to competition and thus modify the food-web structure, with lower omnivory and higher detritivory. The combined impacts (increasing temperatures and NIS arrivals) could lower the resilience and resistance of the system.

The use of an ecological niche model has made it possible to characterize on the one hand the effects of climate change on the native species of the Gulf of Lio, such as displacements of favorable habitats or the reduction of the surface of the habitat. favor of native species. On the other hand, the potential displacement of the favorable habitat of some subtropical species in the Gulf of Lion could be expected. They would then become non-indigenous species (NIS)

Videos of the final restitution meeting of the results of the APPEAL project which took place face-to-face in Lorient on March 8, 2022

A spatialized EwE model was built covering the continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay. From this base, six ECOPATH models were built: a current model serving as a reference, a model only including the effect of climate change on native species, and four models also simulating the arrival of NIS under different hypotheses of biomass. These models include 44 native trophic groups ranging from primary production to top predators, including 13 monospecific groups of commercial interest, and two non-living groups. In addition, 8 non-indigenous trophic groups and 11 fishing fleets have been integrated in order to model the main professions operating today in the Bay of Biscay

A vidéo titled "Food Webs and the socio-ecosystem approach: towards a better understanding of environmental intégration of offshore renewable energies"

This deliverable refers to the socio-ecosystem model that has been developed

This work seeks to understand to what extent the future wind farms that will be established in the Channel and the Atlantic can complement the existing network of MPAs in terms of surface gain on the one hand and coverage of the three facets of biodiversity (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic) on the other hand. In a second step, a draft optimization of the network of wind farms in the Bay of Biscay and in the English Channel was carried out in order to identify the locations optimizing the conservation of taxonomic diversity

This deliverable consists of two parts, first a legal guide to environmental assessment for floating wind farm projects, then in a second part, a study on the legal framework for the spatial planning of floating wind farms: The place of environmental assessment

The use of an ecological niche model has made it possible to characterize, on the one hand, the effects of climate change on the native species of the Bay of Biscay, such as displacements of favorable habitats towards higher latitudes, or, in a to a lesser extent, a decrease in the area of ​​favorable habitat for native species. On the other hand, the potential displacement of the favorable habitat of some subtropical species (currently present along the Moroccan coast) in the Bay of Biscay could be expected. They would then become non-indigenous species (NIS)