Project: Nutrient COcktail in COAstal zones of the Baltic Sea

COCOA will analyse the pathways of nutrients in the coastal zones of the Baltic Sea by 1) quantifying the role of bacteria, phytoplankton, benthic microalgae, seagrasses, macroalgae and fauna in transforming and accumulating nutrients using novel measurement techniques employed in four different types of coastal ecosystems (learning sites: lagoons, river-dominated estuaries, embayments, and archipelagos), 2) developing dynamic state-of-the-art coastal models for these learning sites with a strong focus on quantifying benthic-pelagic coupling and integrating the improved process understanding to the ecosystem level, 3) developing empirical models to estimate the nutrient retention across coastal ecosystems, 4) improving the model formulations for coastal nutrient retention in the decision support system NEST, used for the revision of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. Through model experiments, COCOA will investigate feedback processes, associated with hypoxia and loss of key biological functions, and examine the potential existence of alternative stable states leading to hysteresis responses and identify critical thresholds associated with such responses. COCOA will use models and statistical analyses to examine changes in nutrient retention over the past and in the future given scenarios for climate change and management responses. Consequences of altered nutrient pathways on coastal ecosystem services will be assessed and used for identifying optimal management strategies.

Acronym	COCOA (Reference Number: call2012-28)
Duration	01/01/2014 - 31/12/2017
Project Topic	The role of the coastal systems in the dynamics of the Baltic Sea
Website	visit project website
Network	BONUS
Call	Bonus Call 2012: Viable Ecosystem

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Aarhus Universitet	Coordinator	Denmark
2	Lunds Universitet	Partner	Sweden
3	Åbo Akademi University	Partner	Finland
4	Stockholms Universitet	Partner	Sweden
5	Suomen ympäristökeskus	Partner	Finland
6	University of Gdansk	Partner	Poland
7	Zoological Institute Russian academy of sciences	Observer	Russia
8	Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute	Partner	Sweden
9	Helsingin Yliopisto	Partner	Finland
10	Klaipeda University	Partner	Lithuania
11	Universiteit Utrecht	Observer	Netherlands
12	Danmarks Tekniske Universitet	Partner	Denmark
13	University of Gothenburg	Partner	Sweden
14	Leibniz Institute of Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde	Partner	Germany