Atlantic coastal testbed for next-generation biodiversity monitoring: eDNA, plankton, benthos, mesocosms and in-situ validation

The Marine Research Centre (CIM) of the University of Vigo is a CIGUS Centre of Excellence in Galicia and a leading interdisciplinary hub for aquatic and marine sciences, bringing together more than 230 researchers and advanced capacities in marine biodiversity, ecology, environmental genomics, ocean observation and the assessment of environmental change. For HORIZON-NATURE-2027-02-05, CIM could contribute as a marine and coastal biodiversity monitoring and validation partner, particularly under Area C linked to the Water Framework Directive. Relevant expertise includes Coastal Ecology (EcoCost-EZ1), with strong capabilities in benthic community assessment, marine environmental quality, coastal ecosystem monitoring and the evaluation of pollution and climate-related impacts; Biological Oceanography (OB), with expertise in plankton diversity, community structure, productivity and long-term ecological assessment; and comparative genomics expertise, contributing genomic, microbiome, metabarcoding and bioinformatics approaches that could support DNA-based and eDNA-enabled biodiversity monitoring. These scientific capacities are complemented by ECIMAT, CIM’s marine research station integrated into EMBRC-ERIC, which provides pelagic and benthic mesocosms, marine biological resources, direct access to Atlantic coastal ecosystems, research vessels, oceanographic platforms, sample-processing facilities and an instrumented experimental raft. Together, these capabilities would allow CIM to contribute to the development, testing and operational validation of scalable and cost-effective biodiversity monitoring approaches combining DNA-based methods, plankton and benthic observations, automated or sensor-supported monitoring and complementary ecological indicators, using the Ría de Vigo and neighbouring Galician coastal ecosystems as demonstration and validation sites for methods relevant to EU biodiversity and water-monitoring policies.