Objectives

TRACES will consist of integrated, multi-disciplinary research cruises with one or two ‘signature expeditions’. TRACES research cruises will use standardised protocols and multiple partners at targeted sites in the North Atlantic Ocean. Advantages of this approach address the realities and expectations of today’s funding environment – ‘do more with less’ and ‘capture the public’s attention’.

Submersibles and experienced crew in Europe and North America allow precise controlled sampling and experimentation in delicate coral ecosystems.

TRACES will examine key gaps in our understanding of cold-water coral ecosystems and focus on questions that benefit from a basin-scale study, such as: How are cold-water coral ecosystems linked genetically and biogeographically? Can we develop clear models of larval dispersal potential throughout the North Atlantic Ocean? Can we decipher palaeo-oceanographic archives both at high temporal resolution using individual corals and at longer timescales through coral-built reefs and mounds? Can these archives allow us to reconstruct glacial-interglacial cycle changes in major North Atlantic hydrography (notably those related to the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift currents)? What physical and biological factors are important in controlling cold-water coral occurrence? Can we develop predictive models of coral occurrence at local, regional and eventually global scales?

Development

The first step in the development of TRACES will be to prepare a Science Plan outlining the programme’s vision, objectives, and sampling protocols. This requires an interdisciplinary team of scientists in Canada, Europe and the US and will begin with two workshops in early 2008 (see Meetings for details). The two workshops will identify major scientific questions, develop an outline, and divide writing sections by participant expertise areas.

In parallel with the Science Plan development, discussions will begin with potential funding sources. Our intention is to obtain support from the three international partners in the programme:

• Canada (Department of Fisheries and Oceans & Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council).
• European Union (European Commission with national funding applications by individual European research teams).
• US (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration & National Science Foundation).

We hope for full programme support co-ordinated in its timing so that grant applications for the TRACES programme can be made in 2009 with the first research activities commencing in 2010.