Tara Pacific 2016-2018

The biodiversity of coral reefs in the face of climate change and the pressures of human activity.

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In brief

The internal workings of Tara Pacific

The unique character of this expedition lies firstly in its ‘transversal’ approach to a very extensive geographical area, i.e. the Pacific, where more than 40% of the world’s coral reefs are concentrated. Such an approach had never been tried before on this scale.

Schooner

2 yearsof expedition
100 000 kmcovered on the planet
32archipelagos studied
58 000samples collected

Serge Planes, Scientific Director of the expedition

After our initial observations,
it seems clear that the future condition of coral reefs will depend on our climatic trajectory and our ability to protect the reefs locally from local practices and pollution.

40% of the world’s coral reefs are concentrated in the Pacific Ocean.

Tara Pacific : en haut du mat une chercheuse tient un corail.

Having left its home port of Lorient in May 2016, the schooner Tara carried out the most ambitious scientific campaign ever undertaken on coral reefs. Two and a half years of expedition, more than 100,000 km covered, and 2,677 scientific dives, enough to meet the objective set at the start: to inspect the coral on the scale of the biggest ocean in the world, the Pacific.

Objectifs

An expedition with unprecedented scope

How does this fragile ecosystem work?

How able is it to resist and adapt to climate change and local pressures?

Sharing the importance of these coral reefs for biodiversity and local populations?

Championing the protection of these ecosystems at the Convention for Biological Diversity.

Tara Pacific'results (2016-2018)

Bilan

Contrasting states of health depending on the reefs

Currently, predictions on the evolution of coral reefs suggest that they will deteriorate until climate change is stabilised and new types of reef assemblies stand up to the planet’s temperature conditions.

The data from Tara Pacific offer a unique opportunity to distinguish local disruptions (pollution, urbanisation, sedimentation due to soil erosion) from global negative effects (global warming, acidification of the oceans) and to measure the state of health of coral populations subject to these two types of disruption.

Scientific publications

See all publications of Tara Pacific

25/03/2025

Coral skeletal cores as windows into past Symbiodiniaceae community dynamics

Jose F. Grillo, Vanessa Tirpitz, Jessica Reichert, Marine Canesi, Stéphanie Reynaud, Eric Douville, Maren Ziegler

Tara Pacific

05/02/2024

Sea surface temperature reconstruction in the Pacific Ocean using multi-elemental proxy in Porites and Diploastrea corals: Application to Palau Archipelago

Canesi, M., Douville, E., Montagna, P., Bordier, L., Caquineau, S., Pons-Branchu, E., Iwankow, G., Stolarski, J., Allemand, D., Planes, S., Moulin, C., Lombard, F., Bourdin, G., Troublé, R., Agostini, S., Banaigs, B., Boissin, E., Boss, E., Bowler, C., de Vargas, C., Flores, J.M., Forcioli, D., Furla, P., Gilson, E., Galand, P.E., Pesant, S., Sunagawa, S., Thomas, O.P., Thurber, R.V., Voolstra, C.R., Wincker, P., Zoccola, D., Reynaud, S.

19/06/2025

Quantitative imaging datasets of surface micro- to mesoplankton communities and microplastic across the Pacific and North Atlantic oceans from the Tara Pacific expedition

Mériguet, Z., Bourdin, G., Kristan, N., Jalabert, L., Bun, O., Picheral, M., Caray–Counil, L., Maury, J., Pedrotti, M.-L., Elineau, A., Paz-Garcia, D. A., Karp-Boss, L., Gorsky, G., Lombard, F., and the Tara Pacific Consortium Coordinators team

18/08/2024

Genome-resolved diversity and biosynthetic potential of the coral reef microbiome.

Lucas Paoli, Fabienne Wiederkehr, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Samuel Miravet-Verde, Kalia S. I. Bistolas, Teresa Sawyer, Karine Labadie, Kim-Isabelle Mayer, Aude Perdereau, Maggie M. Reddy, Clémentine Moulin, Emilie Boissin, Guillaume Bourdin, Juliette Cailliau, Guillaume Iwankow, Julie Poulain, Sarah Romac, Tara Pacific Consortium Coordinators, Serge Planes, Denis Allemand, Sylvain Agostini, Chris Bowler, Eric Douville, Didier Forcioli, Pierre E. Galand, Fabien Lombard, Pedro H. Oliveira, Jörn Piel, Olivier Thomas, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Romain Troublé, Christian R. Voolstra, Patrick Wincker, Maren Ziegler, Shinichi Sunagawa

10/02/2024

Porites’ coral calcifying fluid chemistry regulation under normal- and low-pH seawater conditions in Palau Archipelago: Impacts on growth properties

Canesi, M., Douville, É., Bordier, L., Dapoigny, A., Coulibaly, G.E., Montagna, P., Béraud, É., Allemand, D., Planes, S., Furla, P., Gilson, E., Roberty, S., Zoccola, D., Reynaud, S.

18/07/2023

Differences in carbonate chemistry up-regulation of long-lived reef-building corals

Canesi, M., Douville, E., Montagna, P., Taviani, M., Stolarski, J., Bordier, L., Dapoigny, A., Coulibaly, G.E.H., Simon, A.-C., Agelou, M., Fin, J., Metzl, N., Iwankow, G., Allemand, D., Planes, S., Moulin, C., Lombard, F., Bourdin, G., Troublé, R., Agostini, S., Banaigs, B., Boissin, E., Boss, E., Bowler, C., de Vargas, C., Flores, M., Forcioli, D., Furla, P., Gilson, E., Galand, P.E., Pesant, S., Sunagawa, S., Thomas, O.P., Vega Thurber, R., Voolstra, C.R., Wincker, P., Zoccola, D., Reynaud, S.,

08/08/2023

Multi-omics determination of metabolome diversity in natural coral populations in the Pacific Ocean

Reddy, M.M., Goossens, C., Zhou, Y. et al.

06/09/2023

Different environmental response strategies in sympatric corals from Pacific Islands

Porro, B., Zamoum, T., Forcioli, D. et al.

01/06/2023

Insights and achievements from the Tara Pacific expedition

Planes, S., Allemand, D.

21/10/2022

From genome wide SNPs to genomic islands of differentiation: the quest for species diagnostic markers in two scleractinian corals, Pocillopora and Porites

Deshuraud, R., Ottaviani, A., Poulain, J., Leprêtre, M., Beluche, O., Mahieu, E., Lebled, S., Belser, C., Rouan, A., Moulin, C., Boissin, E., Bourdin, G., Iwankow, G., Romac, S., Agostini, S., Banaigs, B., Boss, E., Bowler, C., Vargas, C. de, Douville, E., Flores, M., Furla, P., Galand, P., Lombard, F., Pesant, S., Reynaud, S., Sullivan, M.B., Sunagawa, S., Thomas, O., Troublé, R., Thurber, R.V., Voolstra, C.R., Wincker, P., Zoccola, D., Planes, S., Allemand, D., Gilson, E., Forcioli, D.

01/06/2023

Telomere DNA length regulation is influenced by seasonal temperature differences in short-lived but not in long-lived reef-building corals

Alice Rouan, Melanie Pousse, Nadir Djerbi, Barbara Porro, Guillaume Bourdin, Quentin Carradec, Benjamin C Hume, Julie Poulain, Julie Le-Hoang, Eric Armstrong, Sylvain Agostini, Guillem Salazar, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Jean-Marc Aury, David A. Paz-García, Ryan McMinds, Marie-Josèphe Giraud-Panis, Romane Deshuraud, Alexandre Ottaviani, Lycia Die Morini, Camille Leone, Lia Wurzer, Jessica Tran, Didier Zoccola, Alexis Pey, Clémentine Moulin, Emilie Boissin, Guillaume Iwankow, Sarah Romac, Colomban de Vargas, Bernard Banaigs, Emmanuel Boss, Chris Bowler, Eric Douville, Michel Flores, Stephanie Reynaud, Olivier P. Thomas, Romain Troublé, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Serge Planes, Denis Allemand, Stephane Pesant, Pierre E. Galand, Patrick Wincker, Shinichi Sunagawa, Eric Röttinger, Paola Furla, Christian R Voolstra, Didier Forcioli, Fabien Lombard and Eric Gilson.

01/06/2023

Host transcriptomic plasticity and photosymbiotic fidelity underpin Pocillopora acclimatization across thermal regimes in the Pacific Ocean

Eric J Armstrong, Julie Lê-Hoang, Quentin Carradec, Jean-Marc Aury, Benjamin Noel, Benjamin CC Hume, Christian R Voolstra, Julie Poulain, Caroline Belser, David A. Paz-García, Corinne Cruaud, Karine Labadie, Corinne Da Silva, Clémentine Moulin, Emilie Boissin, Guillaume Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Sarah Romac, Tara Pacific Consortium Coordinators, Serge Planes, Denis Allemand, Patrick Wincker.

01/06/2023

Endogenous viral elements reveal associations between a non-retroviral RNA virus and symbiotic dinoflagellate genomes

Veglia AJ, Kalia S.I. Bistolas, Christian R. Voolstra, Benjamin C. C. Hume, Serge Planes, Denis Allemand, Emilie Boissin, Patrick Wincker, Julie Poulain, Clémentine Moulin, Guillaume Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Sarah Romac, Sylvain Agostini, Bernard Banaigs, Emmanuel Boss, Chris Bowler, Colomban de Vargas, Eric Douville, Michel Flores, Didier Forcioli, Paola Furla, Pierre Galand, Eric Gilson, Fabien Lombard, Stéphane Pesant, Stéphanie Reynaud, Shinichi Sunagawa, Olivier Thomas, Romain Troublé, Didier Zoccola, Adrienne M.S. Correa, L. Vega Thurber.

07/07/2023

Disparate genetic divergence patterns in three corals across a pan-Pacific environmental gradient highlight species-specific adaptation

Voolstra, C.R., Hume, B.C.C., Armstrong, E.J., Mitushasi, G., Porro, B., Oury, N., Agostini, S., Boissin, E., Poulain, J., Carradec, Q., Paz-García, D.A., Zoccola, D., Magalon, H., Moulin, C., Bourdin, G., Iwankow, G., Romac, S., Banaigs, B., Boss, E., Bowler, C., de Vargas, C., Douville, E., Flores, M., Furla, P., Galand, P.E., Gilson, E., Lombard, F., Pesant, S., Reynaud, S., Sullivan, M.B., Sunagawa, S., Thomas, O.P., Troublé, R., Thurber, R.V., Wincker, P., Planes, S., Allemand, D., Forcioli, D.

01/06/2023

Ecology of Endozoicomonadaceae in three coral genera across the Pacific Ocean

Corentin Hochart, Lucas Paoli, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Emilie Boissin, Sarah Romac, Julie Poulain, Guillaume Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Clémentine Moulin, Maren Ziegler, Barbara Porro, Eric Armstrong, Benjamin CC Hume, Jean-Marc Aury, Claudia Pogoreutz, David A. Paz-García, Maggy M. Nugues, Tara Pacific Consortium Coordinators, Denis Allemand, Serge Planes, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Paola Furla, Christian R. Voolstra, Didier Forcioli, Patrick Wincker, Shinichi Sunagawa, Pierre E. Galand.

01/06/2023

Diversity of the Pacific Ocean coral reef microbiome

Pierre E. Galand, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Guillem Salazar, Corentin Hochart, Nicolas Henry, Benjamin CC Hume, Pedro Oliveira, Aude Perdereau, Karine Labadie, Caroline Belser, Emilie Boissin, Sarah Romac, Julie Poulain, Guillaume Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Clémentine Moulin, David A. Paz-García, Maren Ziegler, Tara Pacific Consortium Coordinators, Colomban de Vargas, Christian R Voolstra, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Shinichi Sunagawa, Patrick Wincker, Denis Allemand, Serge Planes.

01/06/2023

Pervasive tandem duplications and convergent evolution shape coral genomes

Benjamin Noel, France Denoeud, Alice Rouan, Carol Buitrago-López, Laura Capasso, Julie Poulain, Emilie Boissin, Mélanie Pousse, Corinne Da Silva, Arnaud Couloux, Eric Armstrong, Quentin Carradec, Corinne Cruaud, Karine Labadie, Julie Lê-Hoang, Sylvie Tambutté, Valérie Barbe, Clémentine Moulin, Guillaume Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Sarah Romac, Tara Pacific Consortium Coordinators, Denis Allemand, Serge Planes, Eric Gilson, Didier Zoccola, Patrick Wincker, Christian R Voolstra, Jean-Marc Aury

01/06/2023

Integrative omics framework for characterization of coral reef ecosystems from the Tara Pacific expedition

Caroline Belser, Julie Poulain, Karine Labadie, Frederick Gavory, Adriana Alberti, Julie Guy, Quentin Carradec, Corinne Cruaud, Corinne Da Silva, Stefan Engelen, Paul Mielle, Aude Perdereau, Gaelle Samson, Shahinaz Gas, Genoscope Technical Team, Christian R Voolstra, Pierre E. Galand, J. Michel Flores, Benjamin CC Hume, Gabriela Perna, Maren Ziegler, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Emilie Boissin, Sarah Romac, Guillaume Bourdin, Guillaume Iwankow, Clémentine Moulin, David A. Paz García, Sylvain Agostini, Bernard Banaigs, Emmanuel Boss, Chris Bowler, Colomban de Vargas, Eric Douville, Didier Forcioli, Paola Furla, Eric Gilson, Fabien Lombard, Stéphane Pesant, Stéphanie Reynaud, Shinichi Sunagawa, Olivier Thomas, Romain Troublé, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Didier Zoccola, Claude Scarpelli, E’Krame Jacoby, Pedro H. Oliveira, Jean-Marc Aury, Denis Allemand, Serge Planes, Patrick Wincker.

01/06/2023

Open science resources from the Tara Pacific expedition across coral reef and surface ocean ecosystems

Lombard F, Bourdin G, Pesant S, Agostini S, Baudena A, Boissin E, Cassar N, Clampitt M, Conan P, Silva OD, Dimier C, Douville E, Elineau A, Fin J, Flores JM, Ghiglione JF, Hume BCC, Jalabert L, John SG, Kelly RL, Koren I, Lin Y, Marie D, McMinds R, Mériguet Z, Metzl N, Paz-García DA, Pedrotti ML, Poulain J, Pujo-Pay M, Ras J, Reverdin G, Romac S, Rouan A, Röttinger E, Vardi A, Voolstra CR, Moulin C, Iwankow G, Banaigs B, Bowler C, de Vargas C, Forcioli D, Furla P, Galand PE, Gilson E, Reynaud S, Sunagawa S, Sullivan MB, Thomas O, Troublé R, Thurber RV, Wincker P, Zoccola D, Allemand D, Planes S, Boss E, Gorsky G

04/01/2022

Antifungal mono- and dimeric nitrogenous bisabolene derivatives from a sponge in the order Bubarida from Futuna Islands

Miguel-Gordo, M., M. M. Reddy, P. Sánchez, and others

Tara Pacific

10/12/2019

The Tara Pacific expedition – A pan-ecosystemic approach of the “-omics” complexity of coral reef holobionts across the Pacific Ocean.

Planes S. et al

Tara Pacific

13/03/2018

Status of coral reefs of Samoa and recommendations to promote resilience and recovery of coastal ecosystems.

Ziegler M. et al.

Tara Pacific

12/09/2019

Millepora platyphylla range extended back to the Eastern Pacific, thanks to a new record from Clipperton Atoll.

Boissin E. et al

Tara Pacific

13/05/2020

Tara Pacific Expedition’s Atmospheric Measurements of Marine Aerosols across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans: Overview and Preliminary Results.

Flores, J.M. et al

Tara Pacific

11/12/2019

Expanding Tara Oceans Protocols for Underway, Ecosystemic Sampling of the Ocean-Atmosphere Interface During Tara Pacific Expedition (2016–2018)

Gorsky G et al.

Tara Pacific

09/05/2018

An improved primer set and amplification protocol with increased specificity and sensitivity targeting the Symbiodinium ITS2 region for next-generation sequencing diversity assessment.

Benjamin CC Hume et al.

Tara Pacific

26/10/2020

A framework for in situ molecular characterization of coral holobionts using nanopore sequencing reveals new microbial associations.

Carradec, Q, et al.

Tara Pacific

15/01/2020

Coral Li/Mg thermometry: Caveats and constraints

Cuny-Guirriec, K. et al.

Tara Pacific

04/06/2019

Bromotryptamine and Bromotyramine Derivatives from the Tropical Southwestern Pacific Sponge Narrabeena nigra

Miguel-Gordo, M. et al.

Tara Pacific

09/12/2020

Airborne microplastic particles detected in the remote marine atmosphere

Trainic, M. et al.

Tara Pacific

29/09/2020

Diurnal cycle of large sea spray aerosols over the tropical Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

Flores, J.M. et al.

Tara Pacific

20/05/2022

Terrestrial and marine influence on atmospheric bacterial diversity over the north Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Lang-Yona N, Flores JM, Haviv R, Alberti A, Poulain J, Belser C, Trainic M, Gat D, Ruscheweyh H-J, Wincker P, Sunagawa S, Rudich Y, Koren I, Vardi A

09/12/2020

Sensitivity of warm clouds to large particles in measured marineaerosol size distributions– a theoretical study

Dror T, Flores JM, Altaratz O, Dagan G, Levin Z, Vardi A, Koren I

06/06/2021

Airborne bacteria over the oceans shed light on global biogeodiversity patterns

Trainic M, Flores JM, Pinkas I, Pedrotti ML, Lombard F, Bourdin G, Gorsky G, Boss E, Rudich Y, Vardi A, Koren I

Tara Pacific

06/07/2020

The team

Relay aboard the schooner

On deck, a team of interdisciplinary scientists coordinated by the CNRS and the Monaco Scientific Centre: 100 scientists involved from 23 institutes in 8 different countries.

Labs & partners