The Pelagic Ocean Living Lab 1 focuses on studying the importance of low trophic levels of the ocean food web for the epipelagic and mesopelagic (0 to 1000 m depth) ocean ecosystems. Changes within the zooplankton community, such as species abundance, stock and functional diversity, are vital for the distribution of higher predators like fish, seabirds, sea turtles and mammals. For example, salps, a gelatinous zooplankton group, are targeted prey of some marine turtle species, but can also compete with other zooplankton groups like copepods and krill for resources, and impact fish recruitment success.
Our key objectives in the Pelagic Ocean Living Lab 1 are to:
- Advance the knowledge of the interplay between ocean biodiversity, biogeochemistry and climate by identifying the importance of functional zooplankton diversity in energy transfer, food web dynamics and carbon fluxes for different climate conditions;
- Develop forecasting tools for trustworthy projections on marine species habitat suitability that can be used for policy advice and operational forecasting (e.g., monitor and project the status of Marine Protected Areas, advice for sustainable fisheries strategies).
Through its work, the Pelagic Ocean Living Lab will demonstrate an increased capacity to understand and project changes in several Essential Ocean Variables as well as Essential Biodiversity Variables, contributing towards more operational workflows, from observing system design to policy applications, with respect to biological and ecosystem ocean observations.
The Pelagic Ocean Living Lab 1 is collaborating closely with the Pelagic Ocean Living Lab 2 and the Marine Organic Carbon Atlas Living Lab.
Main EOVs studied in the Living Lab:
(Click on the EOV name to access the corresponding GOOS EOV Specification Sheet if available)
Zooplankton biomass and diversity
Marine turtles abundance and distribution
Fish abundance and distribution
