PELAgIO – Physics-to-Ecosystem Level Assessment of Impacts of Offshore Windfarms

Marine ecosystems are inherently complex, and are strongly influenced by the forces of the physical environment. Care must be taken to ensure that the physical effects of deploying offshore wind, including cables, foundations, and the extraction of wind energy itself, are fully understood. These effects occur at every level within the marine ecosystem, from changes to ocean currents and plankton growth, through to changing behaviours of marine prey and their predators.

PELAgIO will support the development of evidence-based policy and marine management through interdisciplinary research that explores the consequences of offshore wind development on marine environments, marine wildlife, and wider ecosystem structures. By observing and modelling over a large range of physical and biological scales, using a combination of autonomous platforms and ocean robots, research vessels and satellite observations, PELAgIO will build an ecosystem-level understanding of projected changes.