White-Papers

1. Significant and predictable mechanisms of ecosystem dynamics in pelagic systems

2. Significant and predictable mechanisms of ecosystem dynamics in demersal/benthic systems

3. Biological interactions with geochemical fluxes

ocean-atmosphere-land interactions
fates and consequences of changing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other gases
fates and consequences of nutrients added to coastal oceans
control of fluxes by biota
control of biota by fluxes
environment-specific effects

4. Flow effects on physiology, ecology and evolution of individual organisms

expansion of the direct consequences of biomechanics to provide more predictive insight into population regulation, outcomes of interactions among species, and effects on community structure and patterns of succession
mechanics of suspension feeding
flow effects on sensory signals, search strategies and encounter rates

5. Evolutionary processes in the sea

molecular approaches assessing genetic patterns within species
paleobiology assessing macroevolutionary processes of extinction, radiation, and the evolution of new groups
differences of marine from terrestrial and freshwater habitats

6. Structure over large distances and long times

mesoscale to global
effects of physical and chemical forcing
seasonal annual, interannual to paleo patterns
how temporal and spatial patterns at this scale drive changes in populations, communities, and ecosystems

7. Small-scale spatial structure and dynamics

focusing on the scale of the individual organism to the local population
physical and biological factors producing patterns
interactions of the above
patterns established at initial recruitment vs. post recruitment
how temporal and spatial patterns at this scale may affect population structure and community organization

8. Interactions and exchanges among coastal and marine habitats on multiple spatio-temporal scales

how coastal land use affects nearshore marine systems
important exchanges among different coastal ecosystems, including the potential cascading effects of these linkages
effects of these exchanges on population, community, ecosystem, and evolutionary processes
how an increased understanding of the above topics can be used to develop more rapidly an interdisciplinary science of marine habitat restoration

9. Understanding human modifications of the ocean

biological consequences of ocean warming and sea-level rise
increased incidence of nuisance algal blooms
direct and indirect effects of fishing
introduction, endangerment, and extinction of species
decreases in the abundance of habitats and degradation of their ecological function
pollution by synthetic organic chemicals
eutrophication of coastal waters
changing levels of atmospheric gases
what is needed to develop scientific capabilities to understand the causes of, and predict the full biological consequences of, human impacts on the sea?

10. Chemically-mediated interactions between organisms

expanding on the direct consequences chemically-mediated interactions to provide more predictive insight into population regulation, outcomes of interactions among species, effects on community sturcture, patterns of succession, and biotic interactions at the level of the ecosystem
using an understanding of chemical mechanisms to infer evolutionary relationships and the relative importance of different selective pressures
effects on trophic interactions, mating and fertilization, recruitment and identification of appropriate habitats, interactions with competitors, mutualists, commensals and others
importance of integrating chemical mediation within a richer contextual framework (e.g., considerations of flow, resource allocation, density of congeners and the "borrowed" chemistry of microbial symbionts of macroorganisms

11. Functional significance of marine microbial diversity

consequences of microbial diversity to interactions and processes of importance in the sea
constitutive vs. inducible systems
importance of microenvironments, even in the pelagic
differences in pelagic and benthic microbial loops
how much of the diversity observed is alive (vs. necromass)