MAAMERI – Strengthening the knowledge base for improving the status of coastal waters in the Archipelago Sea

 

The MAAMERI project is included in the research section of the water protection programme (2019–2023). The project aims to improve the understanding of the impact of changes in nutrient loads from land on the Archipelago Sea ecosystem. The project especially focuses on particulate matter from land, bottom sediment processes and the interaction between the phosphorus load and the biota, visible in e.g. algal blooms.

The project enhances the operative foundation of the tools and models that support the planning of water resources and marine environment management. The long-term work that has been done to better understand and manage the nutrient load in the Archipelago Sea lays a firm base to the project. The project aims to complement this previous work in the most efficient and purposeful way. This will include developing the existing nutrient load assessment tools further and harmonizing their operation. Furthermore, the project will develop a basis for new assessment methods through the integration of data sets and remote sensing. The project focuses on the transfer of nutrients, especially phosphorus, from the catchment area to the Archipelago Sea as well as its effects and dynamics along coastal and open-sea gradients in different parts of the Archipelago Sea.

The project includes field studies on board various research vessels, as well as modelling, remote sensing and integration of research data.

The project is based on extensive cooperation among Finnish research actors and authorities. Finnish Environment Institute coordinates the project, with the participation of the Geological Survey of Finland, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the University of Helsinki, the University of Turku, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Southwest Finland and Åbo Akademi University.

The project started in March 2020 and is finalized by the end of 2022. The project has a total funding of EUR 2,200,000 with contributions from the Ministry of the Environment and all project partners.

The main concrete results to be achieved by the project:

1. Reducing the uncertainty of the load reduction targets associated with the good environmental status of coastal waters in water and marine environment management in the Archipelago Sea.
2. Strengthening the Archipelago Sea model as part of the water and marine environment management model system.
3. Supporting the assessment of the effectiveness of the management of water resources and marine environment measures in the long term.

Main concrete outputs of the project:

1. Strengthening model systems through the development of initial data and model structure.
2. Better coordination of coastal models and load models.
3. Merging and utilization of existing monitoring data.
4. Development and utilization of remote sensing and new methods for monitoring the state of the Archipelago Sea.
5. Detailed description of phosphorus catchment area processes.
6. Description of the transfer of the river load of particulate phosphorus and the release of phosphorus in the Archipelago Sea.
7. A more detailed description of the internal phosphorus load in the Archipelago Sea.
8. The role of biotic communities in the storage of phosphorus and the development of new biological indicators of phosphorus availability.
9. The links between phosphorus loads and the development of algal blooms.
10. Ecosystem effects of eutrophication in coastal to open-sea gradients.
11. Effects of reduced nutrient load and turbidity on biota.