EUROGLOBEC - Studying marine pelagic ecosystems
A report on an international workshop organised jointly by the European Commission within the framework of the MAST programme for Marine Science and Technology research and the Baltic Sea Research Institute at Warnemünde, Germany, has recently been published by the European Commission, DG XII. The aim of the workshop was to formulate a science plan for the development of the EUROGLOBEC project which aims to advance quantitative understanding of the functioning of marine pelagic ecosystems. The project will focus on specific processes and appropriate sites which may serve as proxies for major ocean zones, with the aim of developing capabilities for predicting the effects of climate variability and change on ecosystems. The objectives of the project were finalised during the meeting and include: - To quantify and understand the effects of physical forcing on pelagic marine ecosystems over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales; - To determine past and future effects of global change on zooplankton and ichthyoplankton using linked models and observation systems, with the aim of predicting future impacts and potential feedback processes. The publication sets the project in its European context and gives details of the science programme which will focus on three main areas: retrospective studies, process studies and modelling. A chapter is devoted to technology development and deployment, and discusses how to best bring together the various observational systems which already exist within the European Union. Data management is another of the key issues discussed in the publication in relation to availability, standardisation, integration and the archiving of data. A section on linkages to other programmes on an international, regional, national and individual level describes how the project will link with other related studies in the field.