Research Division 3: Marine Ecology

Overview

The Research Division Marine Ecology has five Research Units: Experimental Ecology - Benthos, Marine Evolutionary Ecology, Marine Natural Products Chemistry, Marine Symbioses and Ocean EcoSystems Biology.

RD3 mission: Ocean’s biological diversity drives ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. A deeper knowledge on existing diversity, the associated processes and the reactions to environmental perturbation is needed to project future changes, and to guide sustainable use of biological resources.

These are a few key questions that scientists of RD3 are addressing:

  • How will species interactions and marine communities be reorganized under multiple environmental changes, including invasion pressure and novel pathogens?

  • How will ecosystem biodiversity, functioning and services (for example, productivity, carbon sequestration, nutrient retention) change in response to perturbations and re-organization (due to range shifts /species introductions)? What are the relative contributions of evolutionary change, physiological plasticity and community restructuring to overall ecological response to global change?

  • What are novel marine resources in terms of genetic/genomic resources and marine organism and substances that can be utilized for human application? How can we sustainably use marine resources by understanding the biology of the exploited species in order to minimize effects on population sizes and biodiversity and the affected habitats?

 

The scientific work of the research units is embedded in the research program Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future, where it is significantly supplemented in the topic 6 as well as in the GEOMAR Strategy 2030 with its core topics and integrating research foci (IRF).

 

Research groups

There are currently 15 research groups in the research area Marine Ecology. Follow the links to the respective research group pages.

 

RD3 News

A small green animal crawls on a seagrass stalk under water
29.10.2024

Bacterial communities on seagrass leaves suppress waterborne pathogens

New GEOMAR study shows high antibiotic potential against marine and human pathogens

An almost transparent, slightly iridescent rainbow-coloured jellyfish swims in front of a black background
25.10.2024

Shedding Light on the Ocean’s Twilight Zone

EU Twinning Project to Investigate Deep-Sea Food Webs around Madeira