Genetic tools for Ecosystem health Assessment in the North Sea region (GEANS)
The quality of the seafloor habitat is an important barometer for marine ecosystem health. In order to accurately measure the quality, GEANS will mainstream implementation of fast, accurate and cost-effective DNA-based assessments. This will enable national authorities to improve the management of human activities and protection of the marine environment across the North Sea Region in a transnational coherent way. GEANS will conduct pilot studies concerning environmental impact assessments (renewable energy, aquaculture and sand extraction and suppletion), and concerning monitoring in relation to European directives (non-indigenous species and hard substrates). These pilots will be conducted in close cooperation with stakeholders.
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Latest Project News
GEANS proud to be part of ARMS-MBON – a new network for genetic monitoring and early detection of non-indigenous marine species
03 December 2020A 130 Autonomous Reef Monitoring structures (ARMS) form a global network that monitors changes in hard-bottom habitats. Curious? Read the new publicat…
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GEANS video runner-up in the North Sea video contest
17 November 2020During the multimedia part of the North Sea Conference on 10 November, the two winners and runners up of the third North Sea Region video competition …
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Expanding the library, harmonizing protocols, involving stakeholders: GEANS is pushing forward
06 October 2020Even in times when travelling is not evident, it remains important to share and discuss project progress. Recently, GEANS scientists had two half days…
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New GEANS publication: ‘Biases in bulk: DNA metabarcoding of marine communities and the methodology involved’
18 August 2020DNA metabarcoding of bulk samples is increasingly implemented in ecosystem assessments and is more cost‐efficient and less time‐consuming than monitor…
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Phase 2 of GEANS completed: highlights of main achievements
30 June 2020Three running metabarcoding pilots, a DNA-library with sequences of 20% of the key North Sea Species and a review paper on methods and protocols: read…
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