Retrospective

Hosted by Livia Oliveira and Silvia Malagoli

Marine ecosystems host an enormous variety of marine communities, many of which are crucial to Earth’s and our well-being. From theory to management applications, models allow us to disentangle underlying natural mechanisms governing these communities, to make predictions and to inform conservation policies. As such, ecosystem models are a fundamental tool in marine sciences. In this session we invite abstracts presenting state-of-the-art modelling techniques that aim to understand ecological communities at any trophic level, with possible management applications or even data descriptors.

Hosted by Melina Knoke and Rieke Schaefer

Marine biogeochemical cycles range from the surface and deep ocean to marine sediments. Anthropogenic pressures on marine biogeochemistry are increasing, including rising temperature, eutrophication and ocean acidification. To understand anthropogenic global impacts on the open ocean, an understanding of past and present biogeochemical cycles is essential to predict changes in our oceans, marine life and organic matter. Approaches and methods for monitoring biogeochemical cycles include, for example, modelling approaches or in situ measurements. We welcome studies improving our understanding of interactions and changes to marine biogeochemical cycles in the global oceans as well as their monitoring.

Hosted by Claudia Schmidt and Chantal Mears

Polar regions are particularly vulnerable to increasing anthropogenic and climate change impacts, causing repercussions on ice cover, hydrography, water chemistry and pollution levels of water, air and sediment. With continued exposure to stressors, concern arises that these perturbations could potentially lead to irreversible consequences on the functionality of polar ecosystems. To further understanding within these multifaceted, albeit sensitive areas, we invite contributions that shed light on the complex relationships between multiple stressors and changes in biogeochemical cycles of Arctic and Antarctic regions. Here, we aim to focus on how carbon sequestration or other ecosystem services change, across multiple time scales ranging from paleo-oceanography to seasonal cycles.

Hosted by Magali Roberts and Felix Auer

Coastal ecosystems are major transition zones at the land-sea interface where physical changes strongly influence biogeochemical and microbiological processes. Coastal systems are subject to different gradients, redox and freshwater-saltwater, as well as strong hydro- and morphodynamics, tides and waves. Those gradients and dynamics have an impact on flow and transport patterns, biogeochemical reactions and microbiological habitats. Investigating how these interactions can affect coastal ecosystems requires interdisciplinary research. In our session, we aim to bring together young scientists from different backgrounds to present their work addressing physical, biogeochemical or microbiological processes and their interactions in coastal ecosystems.

Hosted by Wiebke Homes and Jana Stahl

Human dimensions have traditionally been lacking in marine and coastal science and policy. However, as anthropogenic pressures on the marine ecosystem continue to increase, there is a growing need to consider the multifaceted relationships between people and oceans to develop effective conservation and management measures. In our session, we are looking forward to discussing how governance structures, formal and informal institutions, and other social processes drive the evolution and choice of different conservation approaches. We are excited to receive abstracts that apply methods and approaches from social and political sciences to local, regional, or national marine governance and conservation issues.

Hosted by Jonathan Heimer

Under human pressure, the oceans are changing at a rapid pace. To map future pathways on a local or global scale, science-based scenarios can be a powerful tool. They make scientific knowledge tangible and help communities adapt and shape their ocean-related futures based on options for action. Whether you are working on ocean assessment, modelling, building coastal oceans in collaboration with local communities, or any other area of work related to the ocean of the future, we invite you to contribute your expertise and share your experiences.

Hosted by Eva Sinemus and Federica Catonini

Blue carbon ecosystems are critical for climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, blue carbon is under threat from human activities, including pollution and habitat destruction. It is therefore imperative to understand the interplay of legal, societal and scientific dimensions of these ecosystems in order to develop effective management strategies that consider the complex interactions between these dimensions. We invite abstracts for a panel that brings together young researchers sharing their perspectives on how law, policy and science can work together to support the sustainable management of blue carbon ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Hosted by Elena Allegri and Cengiz Arslan

Societies are facing ever-growing number of challenges for human health and wellbeing due to biodiversity loss, climate change impacts, and unsustainable economic and social development. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) have emerged as an important component of the overall response to these challenges. However, policymakers, practitioners, and scientists need to better understand how to identify spatial opportunities in a transdisciplinary manner for targeting effective NBS in marine-coastal ecosystems. This session invites presentations on methods, approaches, and applications from various fields of studies that identify opportunities for the design and implementation of marine-coastal NBS and for the prioritization of suitable areas for NBS application.

Hosted by Runa Reuter

Dinoflagellates are amongst the major primary producers in the ocean. Some dinoflagellates are known to produce highly resistant and preservable resting cysts making them important research targets for (but not limited to) (paleo-)environmental reconstructions, biostratigraphy, and the study of marine organic matter decomposition. This session aims to bring together marine early career researchers from different disciplines, studying living or fossil dinoflagellates, providing a forum to discuss the latest advances of their studies. Contributions regarding all aspects of dinoflagellate research, from modern settings to the geological past, are invited. Presentations covering novel or unconventional approaches or ideas are particularly encouraged.

Hosted by Kea Witting

In a changing ocean, assessing possible scenarios for the Biological Carbon Pump (BCP) locally and globally becomes more important than ever. With rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, ecosystem structures are likely altered which results in alterations in the BCPs carbon export potential. Detangling pathways of the BCP on ecosystem scales still poses a challenge. Harmonizing in situ observation methods with classical approaches across research institutes could help solve this problem. This session invites contributions on changing pathways of the BCP and future indications they can hold. Example studies using various techniques to investigate BCP dynamics are welcome.

Hosted by Ramona Mattmueller and Svenja Woehle

Despite conservation efforts, marine megafauna is challenged by increasing threats: chemical and plastic pollution, ghost nets, increasing noise levels, fishing, tourism, oil spills, and habitat changes caused by anthropogenic climate change, to name a few. These anthropogenic threats alter the acoustic space, (acoustic) behaviour, energetics, and physiology of these species, including impacts on potential populations such as genetic bottlenecks, increasing mortality, or displacement from important foraging or breeding areas, as well as other impacts on the biodiversity of marine megafauna. This session aims to bring together current knowledge on marine megafauna ecology and methods for studying and protecting these elusive species.

Hosted by Arc’hantael Labrière and Lotte Pohl

Aquatic telemetry is becoming a common technique using animal-borne tags to study movement on various scales or even intra- and inter-specific interactions. By quantifying animal movement remotely, management decisions involving fisheries, protected areas and conservation can be greatly improved. Telemetry helps to complete knowledge gaps of the tagged species by detecting individuals without having to capture them. It also provides fundamental knowledge on endangered or invasive species, including large-scale animal migrations. This session aims to bring together current telemetry research across a diversity of taxonomic groups as well as spatio-temporal scales.

Hosted by Marrit Jacob and Alessandra Kronschnabel

Host-bacteria interactions occur in all ecosystems and affect the physiology of the interacting partners. These interactions can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful for one or both partners and may have cascading effects on ecological communities. The recognition and chemical communication between interacting partners are often mediated through the exchange of metabolites. In the marine realm, the exact processes behind these cross-kingdom interactions are largely unknown. This session invites studies exploring the mechanisms involved in host-microbiome interactions and their small- and large-scale effects on single cells, populations, ecological communities, and ecosystems.

Hosted by Lola Nader

Benthic invertebrates, like sponges and bivalves, vastly affect nutrient cycling in the marine realm, fuel ecosystem productivity and biodiversity, and structure the surrounding habitat. Therefore, it is important to understand the functioning of benthic invertebrates in complex interactions and a changing ocean. This illuminates the evolutionary history and behavioral traits of the studied organisms beyond undisturbed experimental conditions. Sharing knowledge on intrinsic feedbacks and future changes in benthic communities supports further research and management strategies. Presenters are invited to share insights on the role of interactions and variables of global change on metabolism, microbiome, distribution, and resilience of benthic organisms.

Hosted by Walter Pisco Limones

The migration of marine animals is an important phenomenon that has significant implications for conservation efforts. Studying the movement patterns of these species is crucial to develop effective conservation measures. However, there are still knowledge gaps and challenges that need to be addressed by future research initiatives. One major challenge is the difficulty in tracking the movements of marine animals over long distances and in remote areas. Technological advancements in tracking devices and satellite imagery have helped to overcome this challenge to some extent, but there is still much to be learned about the migratory routes and behaviors of these animals.We invite you to submit your abstract to share and learn about different tools that are being used to investigate animal migrations. We also welcome research showcasing how scientists’ outcomes are implemented into conservation approaches.

Hosted by Roman Petrochenko and Vadim Merkin

Tropical ecosystems are seriously affected by modern environmental changes, but coastal ecosystems are doubly suppressed both due to terrestrial and marine pollution and global warming. Thus, they need to be prospected and protected as ones of the most diverse ecosystems on the Earth. We are looking for new researches in the field of coastal tropical biodiversity, new methods and approaches for coastal ecosystems to have more rational research, conservation and usage. If you have some new ways to improve our knowledge of tropical coastal ecosystems or contribute to further conservation, please be sure to send us your abstracts!

Hosted by Annkathrin Dischereit and Ayla Murray

DNA metabarcoding is a promising tool in marine research with a wide range of applications. It is used to supplement or replace traditional methods such as net catches and visual surveys as well as being employed in trophic and microbiome studies. In this session we welcome all studies using DNA metabarcoding to investigate biodiversity, rare or invasive species detection, monitoring, or diet spectra in marine environments. We also welcome all studies in closely related fields including bioinformatics or OMICs.

Hosted by Justin Tierney

Omics-based tools have the potential to revolutionize ocean farming by providing a comprehensive understanding of biological systems at the molecular level. This session aims to showcase the latest advancements in omics-based tools and their applications in addressing challenges in ocean farming such as disease management, environmental monitoring, and improving the efficiency of aquaculture production. If your research focuses on any aspect of these challenges, please join us as we explore the exciting potential of omics-based tools in shaping the future of sustainable ocean farming.