What are the Strategic Activities of Marine Genomics Europe

How can research help to implement the vision?

Rationale

Research needs to be further developed to implement the vision. We are starting to address the dearth of knowledge on the oceans and how they function. A brief survey reveals that less than 10% of biodiversity science publications and less than 0.1% of scientific articles about DNA are devoted to the marine domain. This requires change. A comprehensive knowledge of marine life is essential for sustainable resource management and the economic sustenance of human societies.

What are the strategic activities

In order to implement this mission, the activities of Marine Genomics Europe are organised around the following three pillars of sustainability in the marine sector:

• mankind,
• environment,
• economy.

On this basis, the main topics to be further developed are:

• the economic area,
• our natural heritage,
• our Knowledge of the marine domain.

Taken together, there will be new opportunities in human health provisionas well as culture role and environmental enrichment. Marine Genomics Europe, therefore, responds to three different strategic needs:

Responding to society’s needs for humankind

• A natural heritage
• A distinctive Europe
• An opportunity for human health
• A social and cultural area.

Responding to industry’s needs for economic competitiveness

• An economic area - A competitive Europe
• An economic challenge through innovative and critical technologies and opportunities for industry

Responding to the needs of other research fields for innovation

• A unique laboratory for basic research

SOCIETY		pico-heterotrophs; remineralise dissolved and particulate organic matter
		pico-autotrophs; contribute to primary production but not to export of carbon
		N2-fixers; control total amount of reactive N
		calcifiers; produce more than half the marine carbonate flux, sensitive to pH
Phytoplankton		DMS-producers; influence atmospheric sulphur cycle
		mixed; the background biomass of phytoplankton
		silicifiers; contribute to export of carbon to deep ocean
		proto; graze on small phytoplankton, control blooms
Zooplankton		meso; graze on all sizes of plankton, produce fast-sinking faecal pellets which export carbon
		macro; graze on all sizes of phyto-plankton and produce fast-sinking faecal pellets
Figure 1. Ten PFTs were identified that need to be simulated explicitly in order to capture important biogeochemical processes in the ocean.