Working Group on Comparative Ecosystem-based Analyses of Atlantic and Mediterranean marine systems (WGCOMEDA, outputs from 2022 meeting)

The ICES Working Group on comparative analyses between European Atlantic and Mediterranean Ecosystems to move towards an Ecosystem-based Approach to Fisheries (WGCOMEDA) aims to facilitate integrative approaches to analyse and compare Atlantic and Mediterranean marine systems, with the goal of supporting integrated fisheries advice and marine management. WGCOMEDA is structured around four Terms of Reference (ToRs), focusing on functional biodiversity, ecosystem structure and connectivity, resilience and mechanizms of change, and integration between ecological and socio-economic dimensions and cultural systems. In the latest three-year cycle (2020–2022), the Working Group improved the knowledge on functional biodiversity and its resilience, standardized the use of traits, structured an overview of the inclusion of resilience concepts into foodweb modelling approaches, promoted methodological innovations in the field of resilience quantifications, and facilitated the dialogue among researchers from different backgrounds. These interactions resulted in 19 publications in peer-reviewed journals. The cross-ecosystem knowledge and complementary expertise (from the communities to networks, taxonomic and functional approaches, different modelling and innovative tools, and social-ecological systems) have been instrumental for the assessment and comparison of these ecosystems and the development of cutting edge tools and approaches suitable to deal with the emerging ecological and societal challenges.

One of the major challenges of our time from both a scientific and a policymaking point of view, is to pinpoint broadly applicable ecosystem-based tools (e.g. indicators and critical thresholds) to drive management and conservation actions. By collating already developed tools, knowledge, and evidence for conservation and management from both marine systems, WGCOMEDA will continue to improve the baseline knowledge and the tools to support managers, by providing effective options to set and meet legislative objectives, applicable at European level across the two systems.