The Pelagos Expedition offered several teams the opportunity to spend weeks at sea conducting specific research. Among these works, an unprecedented inventory of marine biodiversity was carried out thanks to environmental DNA.
Context and Objectives
La National Biodiversity Strategy by 2030 (NBS 2021-2030) aims to successfully conduct the first complete census of national biodiversity by 2027, in France and the overseas territories, using new technologies such as metabarcoding of DNA. In summer 2023, the Pelagos Expedition contributed to the largest marine biodiversity census ever conducted, illustrating a beautiful scientific collaboration among various entities for a promising outcome.
The objective of BiodivMed 2023 was to create a synchronized and standardized inventory of life. In other words, all participants had to work uniformly, using the same methods within a limited time frame. Their mission: to map the marine biodiversity of the French Mediterranean coasts and the Pelagos sanctuary, including lagoons, ports, and river mouths. In total, over 2,000 kilometers were covered by the teams, with 700 samples collected between May and September 2023.
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