Southern Ocean Decade & Polar Data Forum Week 2021

Online, 20 - 24 September 2021 An Ocean Of Opportunities

2 - A healthy and resilient ocean - Working Groups

How to achieve - A healthy and resilient ocean where marine ecosystems are understood and managed

Degradation of marine ecosystems is accelerating due to unsustainable activities on land and in the ocean. To sustainably manage, protect or restore marine and coastal ecosystems, priority knowledge gaps of ecosystems, and their reactions to multiple stressors, need to be filled. This is particularly true where multiple human stressors interact with climate change, including acidification and temperature increase. Such knowledge is important to develop tools to implement management frameworks that build resilience, recognise thresholds and avoid ecological tipping points, and thus ensure ecosystem functioning and continued delivery of ecosystem services for the health and wellbeing of society and the planet as a whole.

Read the report of WG2
Add your comments directly in the report here

Chairs

  • José C. Xavier - 0000-0002-9621-6660
    José C. Xavier – Marine and Environment Research Centre (MARE), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal and British Antarctic Survey, NERC, United Kingdom My research focus on Southern Ocean foodweb dynamics in relation to environmental change, Policy making and Education and Outreach. José is a member of the steering committee of ICED (Integrating Climate and Ecosystems Dynamics in the Southern Ocean) and in various Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) science, advisory and expert groups. José is the Head of the Delegation of Portugal at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) and active mentor in the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS).
  • Maria A van Leeuwe - 0000-0002-9572-4700
    Maria A van Leeuwe – The Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELifeS), University of Groningen (RUG), the Netherlands. I am a marine biologist with a major interest in the ecophysiology of phytoplankton in polar waters and sea ice, and nearly 30 years of experience in field and lab work. As an active member of BEPSII (www.bepsii.org) and a member of the SCAR Expert Group I highly value the collaboration between sea-ice experimentalists and modellers to strengthen sea-ice biogeochemical research and modelling.