Mass mortality events in Mediterranean marine coastal ecosystems

The Mass Mortality Events database (hereafter MME-T-MEDNet) is a collaborative initiative involving more than 30 research institutions from 10 Mediterranean countries including EU and non-EU countries. This initiative aims to facilitate the access to information (published in scientific journals and gray literature or still unpublished) related to Mediterranean Mass Mortality Events (MMEs). The main objectives of the initiative are to: 1) Assemble and standardize existing information on MMEs; 2)Identify geographic gaps that need to be addressed through future monitoring and research efforts; 3) Assessing species vulnerability to MMEs and identifying observation taxonomic gaps; 4) Fostering the analysis of the relationship between MMEs and environmental conditions, with an emphasis on marine heat waves; 5) Provide an unrestricted, open-source and easy access dataset; 6) Ensure transparency and clarity regarding the origin of each dataset and adequate data citation; 7) Providing information for the assessment of the impact of MMEs on the biodiversity and socio-economic activities. Field observations of mass mortality events in a specific geographic location (site) are the core of the MME-T-MEDNet database. One database record corresponds to the observation of abnormal (high) values of partial and/or total mortality (usually through quantitative indicators) in one local population at one specific time (or period). Here, we consider a local population as a group of colonies or specimens/individuals of the same species (ranging from tens to thousands depending on the species) dwelling in a specific geographic location that is defined by coordinates and depth range.