Mar Benavides and Christian Tamburini, researchers at MIO: Presentation of the OMER (Seas & Oceans) research group and Biogeoscapes
Biogeoscapes is an international effort aiming to improve our understanding of the functioning and regulation of ocean metabolism and its interactions with nutrient cycling within the context of a hierarchical seascape perspective. Representatives from the main oceanography labs in France gathered in December 2020 to discuss about the projects and actions undertaken by France along the lines of Biogeoscapes. Christian and I would like to share the outcomes of this meeting with the scientists and engineers of MIO to propose further involvement and strategical participations.
In the context of global changes (climate and related impacts, pollution, overfishing, introduction of species...) the missions of protection and restoration of the ocean have become absolute priorities for sustainable development (objective 14 of the United Nations Agenda 2030), as shown by the launch of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). The idea of an interdisciplinary GDR around the ocean emerged during the symposium organized by the CNRS Ocean Task Force (TFO), which was held in Paris from January 27 to 29, 2020. From these exchanges between more than 100 researchers from the ten CNRS institutes, divided into four working groups, emerged the need to characterize, anticipate and support the changes that the ocean is facing today. I will present you quickly the framework of this GDR launched very recently by A. Schul (DGDS CNRS).