iMARES - Integrated Marine Ecosystem Assessments

At iMARES, we develop evidence-based studies on marine species and ecosystems, with the ultimate goal of generating basic and applied scientific information that contributes to informing environmental and conservation policies for transformative ocean management. We promote an integrated understanding of the patterns and processes that drive the dynamics of marine species and ecosystems (past, present, and future) under the influence of accumulated stressors, and their consequences for the functioning of socio-ecological systems. We assess both environmental factors (climate-induced environmental changes, extreme events) and human activities (fishing, invasive species, pollution, climate change), and we study keystone species that integrate changes in marine food webs and serve to monitor ecological changes; species that play a fundamental role in the structure and functioning of ecosystems; and vulnerable species that are threatened and in decline.