In the context of the development of marine renewable energies in France, the recommendations report produced within the framework of the TROPHIK project is the first French approach to an integrated study on ecosystem changes related to the implementation of an offshore wind farm.

Spatial study and sensitivity of network indices to wind farm closure and climate disruption using an Ecospace model

This document identifies gaps in knowledge and emphasizes the need for long-term monitoring of marine mammals in order to better understand the impacts of wind turbines on them

Synthesis of existing data for the modeling work to follow (modeling in the deliverables of lot 3)

The objective of the DiMe project was to improve the characterisation of extreme sea states with breaking waves by combining observations and modelling.

Numerical simulations applied on the study sites

The objective of the ANODE project was to quantify the chemical compounds emitted by the galvanic anodes of ORE structures and the risk associated with their dispersion in the marine environment. By combining ecotoxicological expertise and hydrodynamic modelling, the ANODE project has determined that there is no risk associated with most of the elements making up galvanic anodes, namely zinc, iron, copper and cadmium. On the other hand, concerning aluminium, additional experiments are necessary to conclude. The two currently available Predicted No-Effect Concentrations (PNECs) do not seem suitable for this assessment. These thresholds must therefore be refined and include data from in situ measurements in order to be able to estimate the possible risk associated with aluminium releases.

This study investigated the effects of a spatial closure during the exploitation phase of an offshore wind farm in the extended Bay of Seine (English Channel, France) using Ecospace, a spatially and temporally explicit module of Ecopath with Ecosim.

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.

This report presents the analysis of the effects of climate change on the spatial distribution of different marine species frequenting the study site called Baie de Seine étendue using ecological niche models