Topics

The proposed sessions in this list are open to any interested scientist. Some dedicated poster sessions will also be announced, offering additional opportunities for presentation. When you submit an abstract please indicate in which session you want to present it.

Please note that for the moment 26 sessions have been advertised, whereas only 24 can be accommodated. The final decision on which sessions will be organized is the responsibility of the SC and will be made in April 2008. Some sessions will be expanded by a corresponding poster session. The final decisions will be based on the number, the quality and the relevance of the submitted abstracts.

The amount of time for the presentations is 15 minutes and sessions will contain 6 or 8 papers only. Besides oral presentations two rounds of poster sessions will be organized, giving everyone the opportunity to present his/her scientific results.

Topics

1.1 Marine Biodiversity in Polar Regions

Recently we have seen a revived interest in documenting the planet's biodiversity, identifying large-scale patterns, and investigating its significance for ecosystem function. Polar regions are, arguably, the most poorly described systems in the world's oceans, but there is new evidence that high-latitude faunas may provide important insights into evolutionary and ecological processes responsible for generating and maintaining diversity. Climate change is predicted to have particularly acute implications for high-latitude marine ecosystems.

The Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) will have completed the bulk of its field work in the 2007/08 austral summer, as a major IPY activity. This session will present some of the new material obtained during the programme. All biomes and realms are included in CAML and it is hoped that a range of papers can be presented which describe the biodiversity of this region. There will be some comparison made with the Arctic ocean, through our sister project the Arctic Ocean Dioversity (ArcOD).

1.2 Recent discoveries in Marine Biodiversity

The international programme, the Census of Marine Life (CoML), is assessing the diversity of life in the oceans in the past, present and future. In this it has exceeded all expectations, with over 80 countries from every continent participating.

CoML research programmes include marine historians looking at records of e.g. fish landings, scientists investigating the present day marine fauna, and modellers trying to make predictions regarding the future; all are aiming to achieve the first global census of marine life.

Many of the CoML projects have strong links to Europe and the connection from Europe to the CoML programme is always increasing. There are a number of institutions and researchers who are contributing in many ways to the global CoML programme. The expeditions and discoveries are often at the very frontier of what we know about life in the oceans; from the Arctic to the Mediterranean and from the inter-tidal zone to the deep abyss.

This session aims to bring together researchers associated with the CoML programme to synthesise and showcase their results in an international setting, and to highlight the breadth of marine biodiversity research being undertaken in Europe.

1.3 Deep-sea and extreme environments: temporal and spatial patterns among species and ecosystems

Abyssal seafloor ecosystems cover >50% of Earth’s surface but remain poorly studied, even as anthropogenic impacts extend below 3000m. Recent evidence from international programs, including CeDAMar and DEEPSETS, indicate that local abyssal biodiversity can be extremely high with >90% of invertebrates new to science. Regional syntheses suggest adaptive radiation in the abyss and reveal patterns of biodiversity in relation to factors such as productivity. These patterns reflect temporal processes as well as contemporary conditions in both chemosynthetic and non-chemosynthetic systems. Decadal-scale faunal changes at non-chemosynthetic sites have been linked to climatic oscillations. The deep-sea fossil record reveals profound faunal changes, sometimes related to shifts in thermohaline circulation, over geological time. In chemosynthetic systems, the flow of fluids from the earth’s interior provide the main drivers of temporal change. We welcome papers addressing biodiversity, ecosystem function, and anthropogenic impacts across the full range of spatial and temporal scales in abyssal ecosystems, including: (1) temporal and spatial patterns of biodiversity on regional scales; (2) cosmopolitism versus basin endemism; 3) the roles of current ecological conditions versus geological history in controlling these patterns and 4) impacts of recent climate change. This session will provide a new overview of patterns of abyssal biodiversity, important forcing functions, and potential responses to anthropogenic change.

1.4 Discoveries from integrated data systems

The past few years has seen the emergence of computer systems that integrate the marine species data that are fundamental to detect and measure the impact of global change on marine biodiversity. This session seeks contributions on new analyses enabled by such data integration, whether large-scale temporal or spatial data integration, and demonstrations of leading data systems. What are the opportunities, gaps and possible pitfalls? What are currently best data management practices and what are the results and insights that can be expected? The session will focus on biogeographic, ecological and taxonomic data- and information systems.

1.5 Open ocean pelagic and benthopelagic diversity: patterns and monitoring

Open ocean plankton and nekton diversity has been mapped only on broad spatial scales, with emphasis on either biogeography or on patterns associated with special features such as upwelling systems, frontal zones and eddies. Most studies have focused on epipelagic communities, fewer on meso- and bathypelagic fauna and the benthopelagic fauna associated with oceanic features such as mid-ocean ridges and seamounts.

There is a need to establish more comprehensive background knowledge of pelagic and benthopelagic diversity on a global and regional scale with stronger emphasis on mid-ocean areas. Monitoring dynamics in composition and distribution will require more information on patterns. There are international processes within the UN, RFMOs and other management bodies focusing on deepwater and open ocean systems that require updated and well documented scientific information and new approaches to monitoring.

Contributions would be welcome on phyto- and zooplankton and nekton (crustaceans, cephalopods, fish, turtles, mammals etc.) of the mid-ocean photosynthetic communities, with emphasis on identity and patterns of distribution and abundance, pattern-generating processes, temporal variation, and approaches to monitoring.

The session is relevant to MarBEF and to the ongoing CoML field projects CMarZ, CenSEAM and MAR-ECO.

1.6 Biodiversity, Biogeography, and Vulnerability of Deep-Water Seamount and Chemosynthetic Ecosystems

Seamounts and mid-ocean ridges have been sampled since the time of the Challenger expedition, but only in the past few decades have deep-water sampling gear and underwater vehicles permitted detailed investigations of the diversity and biogeography of seamount and mid-ocean ridge fauna. The discovery of hydrothermal vents in 1977 has resulted in a range of research on chemosynthetic environments, with over 500 new species from vents, 200 from seeps, and 400 from whale falls now described. However, only 300 of an estimated 100,000 seamounts and less than 3% of the global mid-ocean ridge have been studied or explored, respectively. Although diversity and endemism can be high, the processes that drive patterns of diversity and distribution in these ecosystems are poorly known. With growing concern over the impacts and sustainability of deep-sea fisheries and increasing mineral exploration activities there is a critical need to identify the composition, distribution, and diversity of these deep-water faunas, as well as anthropogenic impacts on these ecosystems.

This session will discuss the latest results that address patterns and processes of biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation of deep-water seamount and chemosynthetic ecosystems. The session is particularly relevant to the Census of Marine Life projects CenSeam and ChEss.

1.7 Biodiversity of Deep Continental Margins: Local to Global Patterns and Processes

Of all ocean habitats, the seafloor biota of deep continental margins experiences on a global scale the sharpest vertical gradients of temperature, salinity, pressure, oxygen and food availability. These global-scale gradients interact with local and regional phenomena to control the biodiversity of one amongst the most speciose marine ecosystem. The relative importance and interdependence of local, regional and global factors structuring these benthic communities, though, are yet poorly understood. While the comprehensive study of unique continental margin habitats has received an increased attention in recent years, with the emergence of multidisciplinary programs, the exploitation of living and mineral resources is still advancing faster than ecological knowledge. Central to the question of biodiversity control, the spatiotemporal scales of forces that structure deep benthic communities have major implications in the functioning of ecosystems and became a key demand with respect to b This session will provide a framework for cross-scales syntheses on biodiversity patterns and processes on deep continental margins. We especially encourage papers that document or synthesize 1) species turnover across either large and/or short environmental gradients, 2) the relationships between regional and local diversity and 3) the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity.

1.8 Marine biogeography and comparative phylogeography: joining paleontologists, taxonomists, ecologists and geneticists

This session aims at using the unique opportunity of an international marine biology congress to join scientists who use distinct approaches for studying the geographical distribution of species and populations, in an ecological as well as a historical perspective. During the last ten years, an increasing number of studies of marine phylogeography were published. Data from molecular markers provide patterns which interpretation, in terms of historical and demographical events, is now at the point of becoming extremely more powerful. This is made possible by the availability of new analytical tools associated with the possibility of analysing multiple independent molecular markers for the same sample. However, without life history knowledge, ecological, taxonomical and paleontological/paleogeographical information, genetic data do not allow to assess the timing and causes of past dispersal, vicariance, expansion and extinction events. Joining these competences provides a powerful frame to predict the evolution of biodiversity in response to global change. The GBIRM consortium (NoE MarBEF), joining marine phylogeography scientists studying several taxa across European seas, attempts to find patterns common across taxa. GBIRM partners are strongly willing to exchange information with scientists from other fields.

1.9 The Coral Triangle: patterns and processes in marine species richness and habitat diversity

The Indo-West Pacific (IWP) is the largest and most diverse marine biogeographic region in the world. Its highest concentrations of species are observed in the Indo-Malayan area, appropriately known as the ‘Coral Triangle’ (CT). Turnover, or beta, diversity is an especially important component of this tremendous species richness. Substantial environmental gradients, complex physiography, and varied current regimes have created tremendous habitat diversity. Symbiotic taxa contribute further diversity, with various species hosting microbial, protistan, algal, and animal symbiont communities. Recent work suggests that much of the symbiont diversity is host-specific, indicating the importance of “micro-beta” (cryptic) diversity on reefs. Temporal changes in sea level, currents, upwelling, island connectivity, and temperature have constantly impacted the distribution of habitats and hosts in this complex seascape. Anchialine lakes, for example, contain unique and rare populations and communities, with their dynamics linked through retention and dispersal. The aim of this session is to explore patterns of distribution, habitat and host specificity, against changing oceanographic conditions in the IWP, and especially the CT, to better understand its origin and loss of diversity. Hence, the CT presents challenging problems for conservation that demand concerted study combining oceanographic, phylogeographic, and biogeographic research using traditional and technological solutions.

1.10 Patterns and drivers in the distribution of marine biodiversity: in homage to John Gray

Professor John Gray passed away on 21st of October at the age of 66. John was an outstanding scientist, a leading benthic ecologist and instrumental in moving marine benthic ecology and studies of pollution from observation to hypothesis testing. Among many other roles he was a Member (and former chairman) of the UN's Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine environmental Protection (GESAMP); Chairman of the UN's Group of Experts on Effects of Pollution (GEEP), former President of the European Marine Biology Symposium and on the Executive Committee of MarBEF. John collaborated extremely widely with colleagues from around the world. To celebrate John's life and contribution to our science we would like to invite contributions from John's friends, colleagues, former students, acquaintances and free-thinkers working in his field to contribute thought provoking review-type, or primary research, presentations that have broad implications (the kinds of things that John was so good at) rather than more narrowly focused ones, discussing why marine biodiversity occurs where it does, how we can tell, what we have learned and what it means for mankind.

1.11 The taxonomic component of marine biodiversity

2008 will mark the 250th anniversary of the publication of the 10th edition Linnaeus's Systema Naturae - the official beginning of modern Zoological Nomenclature. During this time a total of about 230,000 species of marine organisms has been named and scientifically described - the majority metazoans. However, metagenomics studies indicate that this represents only part of true diversity of life in the world's oceans. So, the process of identifying and naming marine organisms is continuing. This session will highlight new taxonomic discoveries from the marine realm and seek to place them in their functional context. It will also emphasise the utility of new informatics and analytical tools, and of new dissemination systems that will facilitate access to existing knowledge and preserve expertise for future generations of marine biologists.

2.1 Coastal marine benthic biodiversity and ecosystem process under uncertain environmental futures

Human induced changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature, oceanic chemistry and biodiversity are expected to have dramatic consequences on marine ecosystem processes within the next 50-100 years. How the loss of biodiversity might alter ecosystem processes has been explored empirically by randomly assembling simple communities around a basal resource in highly controlled conditions and examining the effect that varying numbers of species (species richness) have on direct measures of ecosystem process. Although there is now substantial evidence that diversity is able to affect ecosystem processes, it is unclear whether these patterns will hold for realistic scenarios of extinctions. Few biodiversity-ecosystem function protocols actually include the extinction driver itself and, instead, opt for a design that assumes random biodiversity loss as a consequence of an unspecified forcing. Thus, a disconnect exists between the representation of biodiversity loss scenarios in experimental systems and the context in which biodiversity-ecosystem process relations are moderated in the real world and under stress. This session seeks contributions that demonstrate the theoretical or experimental incorporation of conditions present during extinction forcing and which consider how these are likely to alter the way in which organisms interact with the environment and alter the biodiversity-ecosystem function couple.

2.2 Biodiversity & Ecosystem Shifts: Viewed from the Bottom Up

Ecosystem shifts are well-studied in terms of changes in planktivorous or carnivorous organisms but poorly known with regard to marine microbes, despite the key rôle of these organisms in the energy flow and biogeochemical cycles of the ocean. Marine microbes are not only numerically but also phylogenetically diverse containing representatives from many branches of the tree of life. This session will group contributions focusing on alterations in communities of marine microbes (viruses, prokaryotes, eukaryotes) which can be linked to large-scale changes in ecosystem characteristics. Investigations may range from descriptions of changes on geological or historical time scales to experimental studies of factors influencing distributions and growth of marine microbes, including invasive or 'harmful' taxa.

2.3 Ecosystem Functioning and Biodiversity Science in the Deep sea

The discoveries of new types of ecosystems on mid-ocean ridges and continental margins have changed our vision of biodiversity in the deep-ocean and its links with the global biosphere. The energy supply to these communities rely on methane- and sulfide-oxidizing microaerobes which are unique in their ability to satisfy their carbon and nitrogen needs from inorganic sources, under free-living forms or symbiotic association with invertebrates. Geologically-driven sources of such reduced compounds to the deep-seafloor (hydrothermal vents, methane seeps) are mostly ephemeral and discretely distributed, such are massive organic inputs (whale carcasses, sunken woods) that harbour species closely related to vent and seeps endemic taxa. These fragmented reducing habitats, however, markedly differ in their chemical/biogeochemical features and temporal dynamics.

The aim of the multi-disciplinary EuroDEEP Programme is to further explore and identify the deep-sea environment, to further describe the biological species and communities that inhabit it, and to better understand the physical and geochemical processes that shape the environment in which these communities live. The final Programme goal is to describe, explain and predict variations of biodiversity within and between deep-sea habitats, their consequences for deep-sea ecosystem functioning and the interactions of the deep sea with the global biosphere.

This open session invites contributions addressing these research themes as prerequisite for the sustainable use and the development of management and conservation of marine resources.

2.4 Broad Scale Patterns And Sources Of Variation In Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Relationships

Over-extraction of resources, degradation of coastal and benthic habitats from coastal development and destructive fishing practices, pollution and climate change are causing extensive loss of marine habitats and biodiversity. These losses can have drastic impacts on the stability and functioning of ecosystems with potential for further impacts on community structure. Although they remain poorly understood, generalisations about the nature of these impacts are beginning to emerge.. Characterising variation in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships in the marine environment will greatly improve our capacity to assess consequences for marine ecosystems of threats imposed by humans.This session aims to identify general patterns and sources of variation in BEF relationships by focusing on (1) broad scale comparisons of findings from marine BEF research, investigating the effect on ecosystem functioning of changes in organisms including microbiota, meiofauna and macrobiota (2) large scale comparisons of the effect of ecosystem changes (e.g. human disturbance, climate change, ocean acidification) on the functional and structural aspects of marine biodiversity.

2.5 Marine bioinvasions and ecosystem functioning

Human mediated biological invasions cause global mixing of previously isolated marine biota. They result in significant changes in marine biodiversity, habitat alteration and lost, and shifts in the ecosystem functioning. Besides the devastating impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, biological invasions also provide a valuable opportunity for natural experiments on functional responses in marine ecosystems. The proposed session will focus on functional aspects of marine bioinvasions such as introduction of unusual ecosystem functions, modification of benthic and pelagic habitats, alteration of the energy and material transfer pathways; methods to assess and compare various effects of invasive species in marine ecosystems.

3.1 Assessing the consequences of large-scale biodiversity change

Over the last decade, marine science has made rapid progress in tracking changes of biodiversity across large spatial and temporal scales. Marine researchers are now using a wide range of innovative tools, from satellite tracking to the ecosystem modeling and meta-analysis of large data sets to understand and predict declines and recoveries in marine species abundance, distribution, and diversity. This session will focus on what we have learned about the macro-ecological patterns of biodiversity change in the oceans, and how to assess the wider ecosystem consequences of these changes. Particular emphasis should be given to general patterns that have emerged through large-scale or long-term comparative studies. Key questions that would be addressed are (1) How can we assess changes in ecosystem structure and functioning through models and empirical evidence, (2) What have we learned about changes in species interactions and food webs, and (3) What are the effects on ecosystem services, such as food supply, water quality maintenance and ecosystem resilience.

3.2 What lived in the oceans? Shifting baselines in time and space

Global depletion of marine life due to over-fishing, habitat loss, pollution and other human impacts has taken an enormous toll on the world’s oceans. At the same time the effects of climate variability and future changes are forcing abundance and distribution of ocean life. New historical analyses reaching back hundreds of years show that bays, estuaries, and ocean basins had an array of sea life that is largely forgotten and utterly surprising today. Research presented in this session brings to light historic patterns of ocean life to guide recovery of marine ecosystems. Recent advances in scientific and historical methodology enable researchers to enhance knowledge and understanding of the interaction of humankind with the marine environment including the ecological impact of large-scale human harvesting and the role of marine resource utilization in the development of human societies. This research exemplified by the History of Marine Animal Populations program of the Census of Marine Life, broadens and deepens knowledge of the contemporary condition of the marine environment and provides the time series and ecological insight required to assess the future sustainability of marine animal populations. This session will compare topologies of change in marine ecosystems and related human activity through historical time.

3.3 Fish and fisheries: genes to global market

Patterns of marine fish distribution have been explained at large scale. Only recently subtle differentiation has been identified that demonstrates genetic diversity based on local adaptation. Genetic structure is of particular importance for both fisheries management and a better understanding of evolutionary pathways in the marine environment. At the species level, modern fishing practices have increased overall mortality and are disadvantaging poorly productive life-history strategies. Similar changes are also expected within species and populations: when heritable life-history variation exists, high and selective mortality usually favors the fast-track variants. Climate change and direct effect of human activities imply changing distribution patterns and life histories of fish populations. Due to exploitation and ecological changes, resources available to fisheries have varied over time and the rate of change may increase in the next decades. Therefore, environment, human activities (including fisheries) and fish communities are interacting in a context of growing human population, which triggers increasing direct pressure on natural resources. The session aims at inviting presentations on both classical investigations on fish distribution and migration as well as advances in marine fish population genetics and phylogeography, including the effects of microevolution and local adaptation and their interconnection with fisheries.

4.1 Biodiversity and bioprospecting: Ecological roles of marine natural products and biotechnological applications

The aim of this session is to focus on the ecological function and bioprospecting potential of marine natural products. Many of these compounds are unique and have no terrestrial counterparts due to the demanding and competitive nature of the marine environment. Understanding the natural function of these compounds can provide new insights into the factors regulating marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. It may also provide a basis for finding new applications for bioactive compounds relevant for drug development and other product categories. This session seeks contributions that consider chemical interactions between organisms and their environment as well as biotechnological applications of marine natural products. The session also aims at developing new strategies for the correct management of these potentially important marine resources for the future.

4.2 Societal and Economic Benefits of Marine Biodiversity

Humankind always benefited from direct and indirect uses of biodiversity. Such benefits are consciously recognized and appreciated only in eras of scarcity - as today, where realization is developing that, in order to conserve biodiversity and to guarantee sustainable delivery of services it provides, knowledge of ecosystem benefits is required.

Scientific modelling and socio-economic approaches are increasingly combined, promising more effective and reliable approaches towards a sustainable use of marine resources. Research strategies are generally based on the understanding and quantification of links between (ecosystem) functions and (human) uses, (nature’s) services and (societal) well being.

Within the scope of the conference this session will focus on objectives concerning economic and non-economic approaches to the (e)valuation of marine ecosystem goods and services. The session aims, as a forum for stock-taking, dissemination, interaction and feedback between natural and social scientists as well as stakeholders, to comprise a variety of aspects such as e.g.:
-socio-economic dimensions needed to guarantee an effective management of marine protected areas being considered as important tool for biodiversity conservation
-the assessment and management of societal and environmental risks arising from marine hazards/disasters
-the role of economic and non-economic approaches in informing marine policy and governance.

4.3 Conserving Marine Biodiversity: Making Policy, Management Tools, and Scientific Knowledge Work Together

A number of policies and goals for conservation of biological diversity were adopted internationally in the past two decades, such as the Convention of Biological Diversity and the Millennium Development Goals. The application of these instruments to marine biodiversity was slow initially, but has accelerated in this decade, as accountability for these policy commitments is coming due. Correspondingly there has been increasing application of management tools developed for the conservation of biological diversity to marine systems. Some of these tools have been imported from terrestrial conservation biology, and others have been developed specifically for marine systems. We are starting to see the policy commitments and management tools combined with explicit Ecosystem Objectives to constitute comprehensive management strategies. These strategies are intended to use the management tools to manage human activities in ways that deliver the policy commitments.

Science advice and knowledge are needed at every step of the framework described above. The types of questions to be addressed include: 1)What science information is needed to make the policy commitments into explicit Objectives, and to measure progress towards those policy goals? 2)What science information is needed to select appropriate management tools and apply them properly in particular applications, and to evaluate their performance? 3)What factors influence the effectiveness of the various tools for conservation of biological diversity; both potential synergies and conflicts? 4)How do the various tools support specific policy goals and management objectives? 5)What tools exist to specifically support transboundary, multi-jurisdictional management of shared ecosystems? 6)What types of indicators are robust for evaluating achievement of biodiversity policy goals and effectiveness of management measures? 7)What advisory processes are effective in applying the growing knowledge of marine biodiversity to the urgent needs for its effective conservation?

This theme session will include case histories, theoretical investigations, and conceptual exploration of the science needed for conservation of biodiversity. Both successes and failures, and gaps and opportunities will be considered. The contributions to this session should advance the application of scientific knowledge to the conservation of marine biodiversity, and the ability to achieve the goals of the international policy commitments.

4.4 Emerging paradigms in coastal research and related management and policy implications

Human activities have impacted on the structure and functioning of marine coastal ecosystems and communities. The combined effects of global scale changes in anthropogenic nutrient inputs to coastal ecosystems and studies of the composition of macrospecies communities as well as of genetic variability of marine microbial communities in coastal environments show that such alterations are undergoing and continue causing changes in marine coastal ecosystems. ‘Top-down’ effects of human activities, such as fisheries, combined with ‘bottom-up’ alterations of ocean biochemistry need to be further studied if appropriate policy decisions are to be taken on the sustainable management of marine coastal ecosystems and biodiversity. The proposed session would deal with, in particular, emerging paradigms in coastal research, and the related scientific rationale, that may have to be further elaborated and tested, so as to increase the effectiveness of sustainable management options in the marine coastal areas of the world in light of the need to continue adapting to global and climate change.