Posted by Dr. Wenyan Zhang, head of the department Sediment Transport and Morphodynamics
The Sino-German Mobility Programme project CHESS (Chinese and European Coastal Shelf Seas Ecosystem Dynamics – a Comparative Assessment) is coordinated by Prof Xueen Chen from Ocean University of China and Prof Corinna Schrum and Dr Wenyan Zhang from Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. It is funded jointly by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for the period of 2020-2024.
After three virtual workshops in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the first in-person workshop finally is able to take place at the Hereon campus in Geesthacht between July 3rd and 8th, 2023. Eleven senior scientists from five leading research institutions in coastal and marine science in China (incl. Ocean University of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Zhejiang University and Second Institute of Oceanography) came to Geesthacht to join this event. In total 25 presentations from Hereon researchers and Chinese partners are scheduled for the workshop, including visits to German Climate Computing Center and the Hereon research vessel “Ludwig Prandtl”.
CHESS is designed to facilitate more efficient knowledge transfer through a comparative assessment between distinct coastal shelf systems in China and Europe to further our understanding on complicated ecosystem dynamics in response to a changing climate and increasing anthropogenic stress. By using the four seas (North Sea, Baltic Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea) as exemplary, scientists from both sides focus on knowledge exchange of three main topics, namely
- the seasonal-to-decadal variability of atmospheric forcing and impact on primary production and ecosystem structure,
- the benthic ecosystem response to organic enrichment,
- and Anthropogenic impacts on coastal dynamics and ecosystem functioning.