2017 – Edition

Spatial and temporal patterns in physical-biological oceanic processes: from scale interaction to the rise of the living ocean

Presentation of the edition

We believe is a good time to go back to the topic of the first edition but, placing the emphasis on the way living and non-living ocean processes are structured in spatial and temporal patterns, how physical-biological interactions favour diversity and persistence of the community, and how these interactions give rise to complexity and the living Earth.
The topic of the 2017 Ramon Margalef Summer Colloquium will be “Spatial and temporal patterns in physical-biological oceanic processes: from scale interaction to the rise of the living ocean”.
This holistic perspective, which essentially says that the full complexity is much more than the sum of the individual processes, has been traditionally neglected because of two principal difficulties: the interaction between physical and biogeochemical processes, which requires a transversal and interdisciplinary approach, and the interplay of processes taking place at many different spatial and temporal scales, which demands a frank communication between researchers typically working on quite distinct topics.

Organization

Since its first edition, the Colloquium has been jointly organized by the ICM-CSIC and ACOIO, hence bringing together a research institution and the civil society. In all past Colloquia, ACOIO has efficiently and accurately taken care of all logistic issues, including the handling of the budget. This was actually the first collaborative effort between ICM-CSIC and ACOIO, after which other initiatives have arisen. We want to continue with this format, not only because of the high efficiency of the ACOIO, but also as a way to maintain and promote joint endeavours with the local civil society.
Hence, the scientific organization of the RMSC-2017 will be provided by ICM-CSIC and the logistics will be taken care by the Catalan Association of Oceanographers (with the support of Dr. Néstor Arandia.)
One new aspect of the RMSC-2017 edition is that part of the activities will be carried out in Begur, a coastal location north of Barcelona; these activities will be done with support from the Sotaigua Association (Associació Sotaigua, AS).

Content

The topic of the 2017 Ramon Margalef Summer Colloquium will be “Spatial and temporal patterns in physical-biological oceanic processes: from scale interaction to the rise of the living ocean”. The colloquium will be organized around five vital processes to the living ocean, as they set the distribution of the external fluxes of material, energy and entropy. Four of these processes are the basic blocks that self-organize the living ocean, while the fifth process (the human factor) is truly conditioning the current response of the system:

a- Spatial structures maximizing property fluxes (material and energy input, flows through turbulence and currents),
b- Pulsating patterns and bloom dynamics (external forcing and internal response, physical and biological rhythmicity),
c- Biogeochemical recycling and primary production (chemical cycling, metabolism and the ocean’s thermodynamic state),
d- Community structure and resilience (species diversity and distribution, interactions, connectivity and food webs),
e- Anthropogenic effect (warming, acidification, deoxygenation, changes in primary production).

All the above processes take place at different spatio-temporal scales, which run from the microscale to global scales:

1- From the Kolmogorov scale to the microscale
2- Fine structure to submesoscale
3- Mesoscale
4- Regional and global scales

The colloquium will be boosted by two half-a-day workshops (‘scientific writing’ and ‘communicating science’) and practical sessions on:

P1- Laboratory and field experiments to study biological response to physical forcing
P2- Tools for analyzing physical-biological interactions in the ocean: models and statistics

The students will be organized in groups of five people to work on one of the above vital processes. Students will be asked to prepare materials on this process previous to the colloquium; the working method will be carefully explained to each participant upon final acceptance. These materials will be discussed and completed during the colloquium with the support of three senior lecturers and one assistant researcher. One main objective of the colloquium is to come out with a white paper on “spatial and temporal patterns in physical-biological oceanic processes”, identifying process interactions at different scales and their role on the rise of the complex living ocean.

The Ramon Margalef Colloquium is a ‘capacity building and training’ activity. The main objective of the colloquium is to provide an open forum for the exchange of non-traditional ideas between senior and junior researchers. In the 2017 event, young and senior researchers will together participate in an open and frank debate of those processes and interactions that set the complexity of the ocean ecosystems at many different spatial and temporal scales. The colloquium shall also enhance the synergy and contacts between researchers, which will undoubtedly help the undertaking of future joint ventures.

program

Monday 3 July

Morning

Welcome and logistic issues
Presentation on the figure and thinking of Ramon Margalef
Introductory conference on physical-biological interactions at different scales by Josep L. Pelegrí
Student presentations on their own work: first part (5 minute per student)

Afternoon

Student presentations on their own work: second part (5 minute per student)
Students (groups of 5 students) and advisors gather to start working on previously selected process
Ice-breaker reception

Tuesday 4 July

Morning

Conferences by Diego Macías (Abstract), Elisa Berdalet (Abstract) and Luke Skinner (Abstract) on type-b processes: pulsating patterns and bloom dynamics.
Open debate between participants

Afternoon

Conferences by Alban Lazar (Abstract), Joan Llort (Abstract), and Francesc Peters (Abstract) on type-a processes: spatial structures maximizing property fluxes.
Open debate between participants
Cultural event

Wednesday 5 July

Morning

Conferences by Nicolas Gruber (Abstract), Celia Marrasé (Abstract) and Eric Galbraith (Abstract) on type-c processes: biogeochemical recycling and primary production
Open debate between participants
Lunch together

Afternoon (two groups of 15 students each)

Conferences by Dolors Vaqué (Abstract), Pedro Cermeño (Abstract) and Marta Coll (Abstract) on type-d processes: community structure and resilience
Open debate between participants

Thursday 6 July

Morning

Conferences by Carles Pelejero (Abstract), Jordi Solé (Abstract) and Beatriz Reguera (Abstract) on type-e processes: anthropogenic effect
Open debate between participants

Afternoon

Group presentations of results from literature-search on selected process
Open debate between participants
Cultural event

Friday 7 July

Morning

Group work on selected process
Open debate between participants

Afternoon

Bus trip from Barcelona to Begur
Guided visit to Begur and coastal areas
Dinner together

Saturday 8 July

Morning

Group work on selected process
Open debate between participants
Lunch together

Afternoon

Free time – Cinema session

Sunday 9 July

Morning

Field activity: choice between snorkel in Ses Negres or walk along the coastline (Ronda Sa Riera-Sa Tuna)
Snack together

Afternoon

Return by bus to Barcelona

Monday 10 July

Morning

Group work on selected process
Open debate between participants

Afternoon

Workshops on (i) scientific writing (Josep Lluís Pelegrí) and (ii) communicating science (María Vicioso, Carine Simon, Rebeca Zapata, Josep Maria Gili).

Tuesday 11 July

Morning

Group work on selected process
Open debate between participants

Afternoon

Practical sessions on (i) laboratory/field experiments (Oscar Guadayol), and (ii) remote colour sensing with SeaDAS (Jordi Isern).
Colloquium dinner

Wednesday 12 July

Morning

Students group presentations

Afternoon

Student group presentations to general audience on the relevance of their research topic
Closure

Team

Mentors and coordinators

All lectures, debates, workshops and practical sessions will be under the supervision of internationally recognized researchers.

We will have 15 lecturers: eight from ICM and seven from another seven institutions (ETH Zürich , Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, National Institute for Aquatic Resources, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Universidad de Cádiz and University of Southampton).

These 15 lecturers will interact with five assistant lecturers and 30 student participants, at the graduate or junior postgraduate researchers. This gives a ratio of less than two students per lecturer.

Course directors

Celia Marrasé, ICM-CSIC, Spain, tel.+34 932309591, e-mail: celia@icm.csic.es,
Josep Lluís Pelegrí, ICM-CSIC, Spain, tel. +34 932309514, e-mail: pelegri@icm.csic.es

Key participating scientists

Elisa Berdalet, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Marta Coll, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Diego Macías, Joint Research Centre, Belgium.
Nicolas Gruber, ETH Zürich, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics and Center for Climate Systems Modeling, Switzerland.
Eric Galbraith, ICREA, Spain
Alban Lazar, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France.
Luke Skinner, University of Cambridge, UK.
Carles Pelejero, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Francesc Peters, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Pedro Cermeño, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Beatriz Reguera, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, IEO, Spain.
Jordi Solé, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Dolors Vaqué, ICM-CSIC, Spain.
Joan Llort, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science

Internal group advisors

Paola Castellanos, ICM-CSIC, Spain
Ramiro Logares Haurie, ICM-CSIC, Spain
Maria Vila, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spain
Carles Guallart, University of Barcelona, Spain
Óscar Guadayol, University of Hull, UK

Logistic organization

Elisabet Bonfill, President, ACOIO
Aurora Requena, Secretary, ACOIO

Begur local organization

Xavier Jardí, Coordinator, AS

Institutional support OF THE EDITION