Projekt: Nutrient COcktails in COAstal zones of the Baltic Sea

The overall strategy of COCOA is to obtain detailed information on nutrient and organic matter cycling from a few well-selected and well-studied learning sites supplemented with new measurements. We will use this information to extrapolate to all coastal sites in order to assess the different management options for the coastal zone as well as the open Baltic Sea through an improved description of coastal nutrient retention. The learning sites have been chosen to represent four specific types of coastal ecosystems for the Baltic Sea (river-dominated estuaries, lagoons, embayments with restricted water exchange, and archipelagos). The learning sites have been selected because 1) they are believed to be representative of the given coastal type, 2) an extensive monitoring program is already in place and long-term monitoring data sets are available, 3) they have been studied previously and research data are available, and 4) field sampling can be carried out more frequently and at a lower cost, since the sites are close to partner institutions.