European H2020 Project “ECOPOTENTIAL”
Ecosystems are the product of the interaction between the biosphere and the geosphere, between living organisms and the physical, chemical, and geological environment. They are complex systems whose dynamics and thermodynamics are determined by the flows of matter, energy, and information between the biosphere, soil, lithosphere, oceans, and atmosphere. The entire planet is a vast system governed by biogeochemical cycles, the water cycle, the movements of the Earth's interior, and marine and atmospheric currents.
In this immense Earth System, natural ecosystems provide essential services and benefits such as clean air and water, slope stability, food, raw materials, and greenhouse gas storage, and enable economically significant activities such as tourism. In recent decades, however, pollution, land-use changes, the introduction of invasive species, and climate change have subjected ecosystems to stress, sometimes bringing them to the brink of collapse and diminishing the quality of ecosystem services. To counter this trend, management strategies must be developed based on knowledge of ecosystem changes and the pressures acting on them, using all available data and creating forecasting models capable of representing the complex interactions linking living organisms and the environment, from local to continental scales.
The European H2020 project "ECOPOTENTIAL: Improving future ecosystem benefits through Earth Observations," one of the largest European projects dedicated to ecosystems (47 partners and a duration of four years), aims to make the most of latest-generation satellite observations (specifically, data from ESA's Sentinel satellites) and field data to monitor the state of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and develop new forecasting models capable of integrating the information provided by satellite data, in a highly multidisciplinary manner.
A specific feature of ECOPOTENTIAL is the focus of its activities on protected areas with diverse environmental conditions (mountains, coastal and marine areas, arid zones). This choice is due to the fact that protected areas include ecosystems that are still relatively intact, capable of providing services no longer available elsewhere. Furthermore, many protected areas possess a wealth of knowledge and field measures that can be leveraged and combined with information produced by satellite observations.
Upon completion of the project, new products and tools based on the combined use of satellite observations, field data, and numerical models will be made available through open access. These tools will be able to quantify the state and future evolution of natural ecosystems and enable the development of optimal management and conservation strategies. The involvement of partners such as UNEP and UNESCO will enable the development of guidelines for the sustainable and responsible management of ecosystems globally and the characteristics of future protected areas. All data and results generated by the project will be made available through a system of portals that will contribute to GEO/GEOSS activities and will be interoperable with the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI).
Project coordinator: Antonello Provenzale, CNR-IGG