Cruise Report - CHEREEF 2021

The ChEReef 2021 cruise is contributing to the European projects Marha and iAtlantic and the ANR project ARDECO. Its overall objective is to better understand the role of geomorphological, hydrodynamic, sedimentary and anthropic factors in the distribution and health of reef habitats in a canyon of the Bay of Biscay, by answering four main questions
1. What is the role of the heterogeneity of the geomorphological structures of a canyon in the distribution and diversity of benthic habitats?
2. How does a canyon influence local hydrodynamics and what are the consequences for the nature, distribution and dynamics of benthic habitats?
3. What are the nature, quantities and dynamics of sedimentary and trophic inputs in a canyon?
4. What are the main natural and anthropogenic drivers of the realized niche of reef-buidlinging coral species?