In the last decades, multidisciplinary studies combining classical methods, to investigate the marine environment and its biological communities, with multiple omics approaches (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) have been implemented. The challenge of these studies is to address questions concerning the functional role of its components with a holistic approach. We present here the rationale and potential of the NEREA (Naples Ecological REsearch for Augmented observatories) Observatory, aimed at including biomolecular parameters into standard oceanographic observations at three main sites of the Gulf of Naples.  Traditional physical, chemical, and biological measurements integrate metabarcoding, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics on several size fractions, so to have a better representation of plankton taxonomical but also functional diversity. Three sites are regularly visited at different pace (monthly, seasonally, biannualy), to better represent coastal, river-influenced and offshore deep areas of the Gulf. Based on the legacy of the Long Term Ecological research (LTER) site MareChiara in one of the sites, the ambition of NEREA is to represent a playground for plankton (but not only) process studies, based on the long-term knowledge of plankton dynamics acquired in more than 30 years of observations. The NEREA dataset will become available shortly after acquisition following the FAIR principles and will be made available to the scientific community for comparative and collaborative research.

Primary Presenter: Raffaella Casotti, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (raffa@szn.it)

Authors:

Team NEREA, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn  (nerea@szn.it)