Hfli thao khoa hoc - Hpp tac Qu6c tg digu tta, nghign c6u tai nguygn va mfli truimg bign FRENCH-VIETNAMAME COOPERATION IN COASTAL OCEANOGRAPHY: ACTUAL PROJECTS AND PERSPECTIVES Xavier MARi' Jean-Pascal TORRETON', Thierry BOUVIER', Corinne BOUVIER', Yvan BETTAREL', Sylvain O U I L L O N \ Jean-Pierre LEFEBVRE', Patrick MARCHESIELLO^ Marine HERRMANN^ Gildas CAMBON\ NGUYEN Nguyet lVIinh\ TRAN Dinh Lan^ CHU Van Thuoc', NGHIEM Ngoc IVIinh^ LAI Thuy Hien', NGUYEN Thi Thu Huyen', Vu Due Loi', Vo Si Tuan', NGUYEN Van Long', Bui Hong Long', L E Dinh Mau', NGUYEN Thanh Thuy', TRAN Quang Huy', DiNH Van Uu' 'ECOSYM, Place Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Monlpellier, France; 'LEGOS, 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France; 'institute of Marine Environment and Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 246 Da Nang Street, Haiphong City, Vietnam; 'Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam; 'Petroleum Microbiology Laboratory, Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam: 'Analytical Science and Technology Laboratory, Institute of Chemistry, Vietnam Academy of Science gnd Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam; ^Institute of Oceanography of Nha Trang, 01 Cau Da, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam; 'Electron Microscopy & Virology Laboratory, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Yersin Street, Hanoi, Vietnam; 'Centre for Environmental Fluid Dynamics, Hanoi University of Sciences, 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam Abstract: A scientific cooperation between France and Vietnam in coastal oceanography started in 2007 with the development of a mullidisciplinary program aiming al studying the influence of anthropogenic and hydrological constraints on the diversity and functioning of the planktonic microbial trophic web in the Bach Dang estuary This initial collaborative effort was the basis for the maturation of several other projects which objectives are: (1) to develop optical coastal algorithms in the North Vietnam, (2) to study the ecogenomics of viruses associated to corals, (3) to determine the impact of Black Carbon on the microbial pelade ecosystem and on vertical flux, (4) 10 develop a 3D numerical model of circulation, waves and sediment transport in Vietnamese coastal waters with focus on the Ha Long-Haiphong area These French-Vietnamese programs are mostly funded via French Research Agencies and the VAST, and are completed by various specific tools supporting capacity building The goal of this paper is to give an overview of past, present and future scientific France-Vietnam cooperation projects in the domain of coastal oceanography A special focus will be Xavier Mari 375 Workshop: -International Cooperation on Investigation and Reseaich of Marine Natuial Resource and Environmenr_ addressed lo tenlalively develop a Joint Inlemational Laboratory in the field of coastal oceanography clustering the French and the Vietnamese partners in a single inlemational structure Introduction With an area of ca 332 000 km^ and a population of about 90 millions inhabitants, Vietnam is tiie most densely populated countiy of Asia after Singapore In 1986, "ddi mdi" was launched and introduced free market economy elements, resulting in a Socialist-oriented market economy This has led to a strong economical growth, but also to the emergence of antiiropogenic environmental concerns Among the numerous ecological systems affected by anthropogenic activities, coastal ecosystems are probably the most severely impacted due to the concentration of population in the alluvial deltas and coastal plains of the country In'addition to tiie direct impact of anthropogenic activities, Vietnam is also particulariy vulnerable to global change As a result of these specific geographical, demographical and economical features, Vietnam represents an emblematic case for studying the impact of human activities on marine systems Given ttiese considerations, a delegation of researchers from IRD, including Sylvain Ouillon (LEGOS), Jean-Pascal Torrfton and Xavier Mari (ECOSYM) visited IMER in April 2007 The partnership initiated from this meeting led to several scientific projects in coastal ecology In order to conduct these projects, Jean-Pascal Torreton (IRD) was assigned to Vietnam in September 2008, followed by Xavier Mari (IRD) and Thierry Bouvier (CNRS) in September 2009 These assignments were strengthened by the long-term missions conducted by Yvan Betiarel (IRD; months) and Corinne Bouvier (CNRS; 24 months), and by the assignment of Aurore Trottet in October 2010 (Post-doc IRD) Since the beginning of this partnership with IMER, new partnerships have been launched with institutes in Hanoi and Nha Trang Overall, this led to the submission of nine projects on the French side, of which six are currently funded, and of five projects on the Vietnamese side The aim of this paper is to briefly describe the projects resulting from this fruitful Vietnamese-French partnership and attempt giving some perspectives Past, present and future projects HAIPHONG: Hydrodynamic and Anthropogenic Influences on PItyloplankton and bacteriOplankton of the Bach Dang Estuary PI: Jean-Pascal Torrfton This project funded by flie French National Programme on Coastal Environment EC2C0, IRD, CNRS and VAST, started in 2008 and has ended early 2011 It involved five French research units (ECOSYM, LEGOS, IPREM, LOPB, IMAGO) and three Vietnamese research institutes (IMER, IBT, NIHE) Context The economic development and the demographic gro'wtii in emerging countiies increase the anthropogenic pressure on the coastal zones These local distiirbances combine with climate change and affect the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles In Vietnam, the Haiphong area has strong agricultiiral, industtial and port ^'* Xavier Mari Hfli thao khoa hpc - Hpp tac Quflc tg digu tra nghign cihl tai nguygn va mfli tnr6ng bign activities, which result in the input of organic and inorganic pollutants in the estuary Objectives were to identify sources, transport mechanisms and tiansformation processes of anthropogenic elements, and to assess their effects on the diversity and function of microorganisms Research activities were developed during two seasonal campaigns and during a complete annual cycle The understanding of the hydrodynamics in the estuary, of the tiansformation and the transport of particles in the coastal zone required an integrated approach involving modelling, current measurements, in situ profiles of temperature, salinity, turbidity and particle size determinations and suspended solids The distribution of major contaminants in the water column was determined in relation to hydrodynamics and particle load A third axis of research examined the abundance, activity and diversity of phytoplankton, bacteria and viruses in relation to environmental conditions in the estuary The last axis of research aimed at understanding the interactions between the processes of aggregation/sedimentation of particles and anthropogenic factors which partially control the fate of these aggregates The project is now completed Current activities are focusing on analyses of samples and publication of results CORINE: ECOgenomlcs of coral viruses (MaRINE protected area of Hon Mun, Vietnam) PI: Yvan Bettarel This project has been funded for the period 2011-2012 by the French Programme EC2C0 and the TOTAL Foundation Six French research units (ECOSYM, LOV, BIOEMCO, LMGE, URMITE, CSM) and three Vietnamese research institutes (IMER, NIHE, NIO) are involved Context Coral reefs are highly productive biological zones and host an extraordinary biodiversity, but are also particulariy vulnerable marine environments They have declined over the last 30 years owing to the combined effect of global warming and increasing anthropogenic pressure The first signs of this decline are bleaching events, which generally occur after the expulsion of the endosymbiotic zooxanthellae by the coral polyps as a result of physical or chemical disruption of the environment An alternative theory considers that bleaching may be caused by the action of prokaryotes in the surface mucus layer of the coral According to this hypothesis, bleaching is the resuU of ^ sudden modification of the bacterial community in the mucus in response to environmental disturbance The weakening and subsequent disappearance of the bacterial species that are most sensitive to these changes allow the establishment of new opportunistic populations, which may be pathogenic, leading to the disruption of the microbial equilibrium of the resident communities and consequentiy to disease and death of the coral To test this hypothesis, it is essential to study the mechanisms that may regulate the abundance and diversity of the prokaryote communities in the mucus Of the biological entities that form the coralholobiont, viruses are those that have been the least studied until now However, they are reasons to believe that a dynamic relationship exists between the viruses and their prokaryote hosts, characterised by a lytic activity that is probably strong and very specific, ensuring the biological stability for the coral Objectives In this project, we hypothesize that mucus- Xavier Mari 377 Workshop "International Cooperation on Investigation and Research of Marine Natural Resource and Envimnmp-,B attached viruses, in combination with local environmental conditions may regulate the community to ensure the prevalence of selected prokaryotes by preventing the emergence of others (in particular pathogens) and play a role in the prevention of coral bleaching, thus improving the resilience of coral reef ecosystems Research activities are organized in three complementary approaches: (I) the development of a method for extracting microorganisms from coral's mucus layer, (2) the completion of a field study aimed at sampling mucus from target scleractinians' species, and (3) the realization of a bleaching experiment under controlled temperature increase to monitor the various stages of the structural and functional changes of the viral and prokaryote communities in the mucus FISH-probe: Development of a microarray to assess the adaptive mechanisms of aquatic bacterial communities face to environmental perturbations PI: Thierry Bouvier This project is funded by the CNRS International Projects for Scientific Cooperation (PICS), from May 2011 to April2013 It involves one French research unit (ECOSYM) and two Vietnamese research institutes (IBT, NIHE) Context While Vietnam is a hot-spot of biodiversity, it is among the countiies in the world where the environment is most affected by climate change and human activities Aware of this threatened bio-wealth, Viemam has implemented a national plan of action for biodiversity The development of the DNA chip technology has generated enthusiasm in the worid of biology because they allow analyzing simultaneously the presence of thousands of bacterial species Whenhvo nucleic acid strands hybridize, this causes a change in surface charge, which is captured using microelectrodes This electrochemical DNA biosensor technology is appealing in its simplicity of implementation, low cost and sensitivity Objectives are to develop a DNA chip for field applications, able to replace thefiuorescentin Jim hybridization (CARD-FISH) with a higher sensitivity The chip will be tested with bacterial strains and natural communities r ^r^ii Vietnam Teledetectlon & OPCAL: Optical Algorithms PI: Sylvain Ouillon These projects have been funded for the period 2011-2013 by the National ? " " ' ^"/iP?''"' ^•"'''^^ (CNES) and by the National Program of Spatial Remote RincMr^V^ ^ ' ^ ^^ '"^"'"^ '""'• ^^^'"^^ research units (LEGOS, ECOSYM, blUbMCO LOG) and two Vietnamese research institutes (IMER, HUS) Context ipatial applications in the domain of seawater color, such as tiie mapping of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and chlorophyll a concentrations, and colored dissolved organic matter, serve as support for coastal environmental studies However, at present there is no global optical coastal algorithm due to the high ensitvity of the inherent optical properties (lOPs) to the particle size, to their T,uT? '".u''' , ' ° * ^ concentration of organic matter The development of a ual algorithms related to SPM is semi-analytic and relies on simplified models m e a L p ? , / r o ' - " " ' ' " ' ' " ' ' Particulate matter and complementary in situ Z c n l T •'.•|, ^ " " " ' ° ^ * ' ' ™ * ^^« to Pi-ovide more precise coastal bioconce tr lionoripM i'" ' " ' " " ' ' * ' ' ^ m\\cat\on to parameters other than the concentration of SPM alone; m particular toward the size distribution of SPM and 378 Xavier Man Hfli thao khoa hoc - Hpp tac Quflc tg digu tra nghign cijtu tai nguygn ya mfli truflng bign its organic content After having established a generic algorithm for SPM in low turbidity coastal.waters (in 2008), this study will help to broaden the range of measurements in waters of contrasted trophic status, from highly turbid plumes of the Red River to clear waters of the northwestern Gulf of Tonkin Research activities will encompass studies of coastal processes and remote sensing, in relationship with modeling activities Regarding marine optics and remote sensing, field campaigns organized during dry and wet seasons will allow analyzing a complete range of lOPs Opportunistic field campaigns focusing on special events will complete the above two seasonal campaigns These field campaigns will include optical, physico-chemical and biological measurements The comparison between optical parameters (lOPs and reflectance) and pai-ameters related to SPM will permit the formulation of semi-analytical bio-optical algorithms applicable to remote sensing data The developed algorithms will be applied to satellite data (MODIS, MERIS) and the resulting SPM maps will be used to calibrate and validate a numerical model of hydrodynamics and suspended sedirrient transport that is now in development within the PhD thesis of Nguyen Nguyet Minh (cosupervised by LEGOS and HUS-VNU and granted by the USTH and by IRD) Other numerical model development and analysis of the team focus on upwelling dynamics in the South Vietnam Black Carbon This research thematic led to the development of several projects Context Black Carbon (BC) is an aerosol emitted as soot during biomass burning or fossil fuels combustion Its lifetime in the atmosphere varies from a few days to several weeks Black Carbon leaves the atmosphere via dry or wet deposition on land or ocean On a global scale, deposition on the ocean is about 70 Tg C yr~', with higher fluxes in inter-tropical regions While the effects of atmospheric BC on climate and health are widely studied, very few studies addressed the effects of BC deposition on marine processes Objectives The effects of BC on marine processes could be several-fold It could modify the functioning and structure of the microbial trophic web, alter the coupling between bacteria and phytoplankton and the interactions between viruses and bacteria, change the size spectra of particles, and modify the density of aggregates Altogether, the input of BC into the pelagic ecosystem has the potential to alter the cycle of elements in the water column and their sequestration into sediments Indeed, BC could control the balance between retention and export by altering both microbial and aggregation processes, which ultimately regulate the-efficiency of the biological pump (photosynthesis followed by sedimentation) to export and sequester elements to the deep ocean Therefore, understanding the impact of this aerosol will provide information allowing a better prediction of climate change Research activities are organized around field studies, experiments and modelling, and are based on the assessment of: (1) BC concentrations in the water column; (2) spatio-temporal variations of the effect of BC deposition on microbial community composition and functioning, and particle characteristics; (3) bioavailability of BC for marine bacteria; (4) impact on microbes (bacteria/viruses and Xavier Mari 379 Worishop: "Intetnarional Cooperation on Investigation and Research of Marine Natural Resource and Envimni^p^ bacteria/phytoplankton interactions, bacterial production and diversity, adsoiptio„ of microorganisms); (5) interactions between BC and dissolved organic matter, and (6) effects of BC on aggregation and sedimentation processes The above themes will together respond to the question of how the input of BC in the pelagic marine ecosystem may alter its recycling and export capacities This thematic led to tj,, development of the following projects: NOIR-C-NOIR: Impact of Black Carbon on the microbial pelagic ecosystem and on verticalflux This 4-year project has been submitted to the French National Research Agency in January 2011, but has not been selected for funding in June 2011 PI: Xavier Mari Its objectives are to study the effects of BC deposition at the sea surface, to determine the sources and concentiations of BC in coastal pelagic ecosystems, to describe potential BC-induced changes of the microbial communities' structure, to determine the bioavailability of BC for bacteria to describe the interactions between BC aiid organic matter The central goal of this project is to determine how the introduction of BC in the pelagic ecosystem modifies its export and recycling capacities This project involves six French research units (ECOSYM, LOPB, LEGOS, LOCEAN, LOV, LA) and five Vietnamese research institutes (IMER, IBT, NIHE, ICH, HUS) CARPEDYEM: Impacts of Black Carbon on pelagic processes In Halong Bay This project is a declination of the project NOIR-C-NOIR (see above) focussing on the impact of BC in Halong Bay The aim of this program is essentially to strengthen the network of research in BC-studies in Vietnam This project submitted to flie French-Vietnamese PHC Hoa Sen-Lotus in March 2010 has been accepted for funding for the period 2012-2013 PI: Xavier Mari This project involves five French research units (ECOSYM, LOPB, LEGOS, LOV, LA) and two Vietnamese research institutes (IMER, IBT) KIM-ANH: BlacK carbon IMpact on pUnktonic commuNities In Halong Bay This project developed by Aurore Trottet (Postdoc IRD) aims at describing the effects of BC on phytoplanktonic and bacterial communities of Halong Bay Experiments have been conducted to detennine the adsorptive properties of BC for nutrients and dissolved organic carbon, and the growth rate of phytoplankton and bacteria cultures, as a function of BC concentrations and sources This project involves one French research unit (ECOSYM) and one Vietnamese research institute (IMER) Duration year (2010-2011) COME&SEA: Biogeochemistry and ecology of tropical Coastal Marine tcasystems m South East Asia This project of Young Team AIRD (JEAI) has been developed by Chu Van Thuoc (IMER) and Xavier Mari (ECOSYM), and was submitted m May 2011 COME&SEA mobilizes researchers from different oiscipimes around ? central question: How anthropogenic forcings affect the structure and functioning of the coastal microbial ecosystem and what are the consequences in terms of element cycling? While the ultimate goal of this JEAI is 10 lacKie the effect of various types of anthropogenic pressure on Vietnamese 380 rzT Xavier Man Hfli thao khoa hoc - Hpp tac Quflc tg digu tra nghign cmi tai nguygn va mfli truflng bign coastal marine ecosystems, the focus of the research project will be the impact of BC This project focuses on capacity building objectives Increase of knowledge and know-how will be allowed by close cooperation during field and laboratory works involving Vietnamese and French partners, and regular scientific meetings among participants Training of students and in-service training of young researchers will represent a significant output This project of JEAI builds on the scientific project: Role of Black Carbon on the coastal microbial ecosystem (BLACK COAT) which involves one French research unit (ECOSYM) and five Vietnamese research institutes (IMER, IBT, NIHE, ICH, NIO) Proposed duration years (2012-2014) Overview of the Vietnamese-French partnership in coastal oceanography The programmes developed in partaership with Viemamese institutes since 2007 established an array of interactions between French and Viemamese institutes, but also increased the networking between Viemamese I lAlGE [ [ LOPB ] [ B I O E M C O | < » | I M P M C | [ LA institutes These interactions are •* * Intersclioni Ixtwwii Frendi unns depicted in the » _ ~^ luteiactioiis be^^'eal Vktnameie units - — * inleiactiotii betn-MuFtendiaiiilVietiumeie following scheme d fnteraoioii) Perspectives: LMI A LMI (Mixed International Laboratory) is a tool operated by IRD promoting the scientific partnership with teams from the South It has to comprise one or more IRD units implanted in a country of the South and of one or more tearns from the South It is hosted in the premises of the partners' institutes The aim of a LMI is to conduct joint research and training (masters and PhD) programs It is created for a 4-year period that may be renewed once after evaluation It is coordinated by one director and one deputy director (one from the South, one from the North) jointly appointed by the heads of the institutions The objectives of a LMI in Oceanography in Vietnam would be: to mobilize Vietnamese and IRD teams around a common scientific programme in oceanography, to promote the clustering of complementary scientific capabilities (mullidisciplinary approaches) around a Xavier Mari 381 Workshop "International Cooperation on investigation anu i^cscaicii ui jvigi mc i,anuai Resouiceano i i n v i w j ^ p ^ common regional or international goal, to pool resources and equipments and share their responsibility, to improve the link between research and training at the doctorate and master levels The latter could be achieved in the framework of the USTH The projects of LMI have to be linked to IRD scientific priorities A LMl dedicated to oceanographic research in Vietnam could connect to the IRD priorities Ecosystems and natural resources and Global change and natural hazards Glossary ECOSYM: Laboratoire Ecologie des syslemes marins coders (Montpellier) IPREM; Inslilul des Sciences Analyliques el de Physico-chimie pour VEnvironnemenl el k Maleriaiix (Pau) BIOEMCO: Laboratoire Biogeochimie el Ecologie des Milieux Conlinenlaux (Paris) LOPB: Laburaloire d'Oceanographie Physique el Biogeochimique (Marseille) LEGOS: Laboraloire d'Eludes en Geophysique el Oceanographic Spatiale (Toulouse) IMAGO: Inslrumenlalion, Moyens Analyliques Observaloires en Geophysique el Oceanographie (Brest) LOV: Laboraloire d'Oceanographie de Villefranche (Villefranche-sur-Mer) LOCEAN: Laboraloire d'Oceanographie el du climat experimentations et approches numeriqiies (Paris) LA; Laboraloire dAerologie (Toulouse) LOG; Laboraloire d'Oceanologie el de Geosciences (WImereux) IMPMC: Institut de Mineralogie et de Physique des Milieux Condenses (Paris) URMITE; Unili de Recherche siir ks Maladies Infeclieuses Tropicales (Marseille) UMMISCO; Unite de Uodelisalion Malhemalique et Informalique de Syslemes Complexe (Paris) CSM; Scientific Centre of Monaco (Monaco) LMI; International Mixed Laboratory AIRD; Inter-instltutional research agency for the development (Agence Inler-elablissemenl de Recherche pour le Developpement) JEAI: Young intemational associated teams (ieunes Eqiiipes Associees Inlernalionales) USTH; University of Sciences and Technology of Hanoi VAST; Vietnam Academy of Sciences and Technology IMER; Instftute of Marine Environment & Resources (Haiphong) IBT; Institute of Biotechnology (Hanoi) ICH; Institute of Chemistry (Hanoi) NIO; National Institute of Oceanography (Nha Trang) NIHE: National Institute of Hygiene & Epidemiology (Hanoi) HUS; Hanoi University of Sciences (Hanoi) 382 TTT^ Xavier Man ... the French and the Vietnamese partners in a single inlemational structure Introduction With an area of ca 332 000 km^ and a population of about 90 millions inhabitants, Vietnam is tiie most densely... anthropogenic activities, Vietnam is also particulariy vulnerable to global change As a result of these specific geographical, demographical and economical features, Vietnam represents an emblematic... currently funded, and of five projects on the Vietnamese side The aim of this paper is to briefly describe the projects resulting from this fruitful Vietnamese-French partnership and attempt giving