Scientific news

From July 24 to 26, ICM is hosting in Barcelona the 3rd meeting of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). GOOS is a permanent global system for observations, modelling and analysis of marine and ocean variables to support operational ocean services worldwide.

From July 21 to 23, ICM is hosting in Barcelona the 17th meeting of the Ocean Observation Panel for Climate (OOPC). The mission of this international panel is to develop recommendations for a sustained global observation of the oceans in relation to climate. In order to do so, OOPC provides support to global ocean observation activities, monitors the evolution of present systems and draws the needs for future observational implementation.

The second edition of the “Ramon Margalef Summer Colloquia” has finished on Friday 18th of July at the Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC) with a closing event open to general public where the students of the Colloquia have presented the conclusions of the Colloquia.

From 7th to 18th July the Marine Sciences Institute CSIC from Barcelona lodges for second year the international course Ramon Margalef Summer Colloquia. This edition is included in the events of the commemoration of the tenth death of Ramon Margalef under the motto «What ecology can learn from natural and human-induced disturbances. A cross-system view» and the main topic is ecology in a multidisciplinar way as the scientific Ramon Margalef worked.

How does species richness vary with ecosystem productivity for marine phytoplankton? This question has fascinated biological oceanographers for decades. Phytoplankton communities are composed of many species of unicellular micro-algae. They are at the base of the marine trophic foodweb, growing and surviving by means of photosythesis by fixing CO₂; a process known as primary production.

On June 21, coinciding with the summer solstice, the ICM celebrated the Ocean Sampling Day, a day of exploration of the ocean, a campaign of simultaneous sampling at 167 stations located in different seas and oceans of the world and focused on the study of marine microorganisms. Coinciding with the sampling, an outreach event was carried out by scientists of the Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography of the Institut de Ciències del Mar and of the CEAB.