1996-97

Work has continued on two fronts. On the organizational side, much time and effort has gone into updating the list of National Correspondents who have hitherto constituted the only formal contact with the international community of biological oceanographers. The work was initiated through requests to the various national IUBS committees to confirm the continuing nomination or to nominate a successor. A response was received from approximately half of the countries approached. Where this approach, despite reminders, was not successful within a reasonable period of time (approximately one year!), direct approaches were made to individuals who, in the opinion of the President and Secretary, would be appropriate for the role. The current list of Correspondents is attached to this report.

A questionnaire was sent to all Correspondents enquiring about their availability to carry out duties related to IABO within their own countries and in liaison with the executive. A few enthusiastic responses were received which would form a promising basis for future initiatives, but it is clear that the main role for National Correspondents is seen by the majority of Correspondents as a point of contact, a post box in fact, primarily for incoming material from the Executive. The question of widening the membership of IABO to include individual biological oceanographers has been considered; there seems to be no intrinsic objection to this and indeed would be widely welcomed, but action awaits further discussion on the future role of IABO.

On the scientific front, IABO has continued to place top priority on Marine Biodiversity. The wide endorsement by the international scientific community of DIVERSITAS as an international programme of biodiversity science is extremely encouraging. IUBS, SCOPE, UNESCO, ICSU, IGBP-GCTE, and IMS have approved the Programme, and the President has worked hard and successfully towards the inclusion of a Programme Element on Marine Biodiversity. The marine research components outlined in the Operational Plan of DIVERSITAS are:

1. Ecosystem functioning and its effects on marine biodiversity,
2. Origins and maintenance of biodiversity in marine ecosystems,
3. Systematics and monitoring of marine organisms,
4. Marine microbial biodiversity.

This Plan was published in late 1996 and this year representatives of IABO, the Network of European Marine Research Stations (MARS), the U.S. National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML), the Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Network (CARICOMP), and the UNESCO-MAB Coastal Biosphere Reserves Network will meet on the occasion of the 4th International Marine Biotechnological Conference in Southern Italy (IMBC '97).

At the special session of IMBC '97 on Marine Biodiversity, which will be jointly chaired by the President and Secretary of IABO, marine biological diversity will be discussed in the context of:

1. Current status of research,
2. Potential for collaborative research and expanded research opportunities,
3. Potential for commercial applications and research results,
4. Policy implications of the proposed research.

Participants have been asked to bring statements on:

1. Marine laboratories and long-term ecosystem research (or inventorying and/or monitoring) sites in their countries,
2. Capabilities for sharing data,
3. Priorities for inventorying and monitoring,
4. Practising systematises in their country or region,
5. Regional priorities for capacity development in marine systematics,
6. Major regional issues related to sustainable use and conservation of natural resources,
7. Priorities for and examples of experiments and hypotheses to be tested at the national, regional and international levels,
8. Additional information related to marine biological diversity from each region.

The goal of the meeting will be to forge the framework of an International Marine Biodiversity Programme under DIVERSITAS. Emphasis will be placed on the development of an international network of marine laboratories and field stations to share information and to conduct parallel experiments to test common hypotheses. It is intended to prepare a publication summarizing results from the IMBC Biodiversity Workshop and outlining future directions for research.

Future plans include a joint meeting with IAPSO in the year 2001. Plans are still at a very early stage, but it will address the question of interdependency between physical and biological oceanography in the context of current international programmes such as GLOBEC.