ARCP2011-04CMY-Paudel – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1585

• Policy Brief:　Community-based Forestry and Livelihoods in the Context of Climate Change Adaptation: Bangladesh Experience
• Policy Brief:　Climate Change Adaptation in Thailand
• Policy Brief:　Viet Nam

ARCP2012-07CMY-Mathukumalli – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1598

• Year 1 Progress Report:　Tracing Nitrogen and Carbon Biogeochemical Processes in the Intertidal Mangrove Ecosystem (Sundarban) of India and Bangladesh: Implications of Global Environmental Change

ARCP2012-05CMY-Zhen – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1596

• Year 1 Progress Report:　Holistic Assessment of Land-use Change and Impacts on Ecosystem Services of Wetlands

ARCP2012-04CMY-Salik – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1595

• Year 1 Progress Report:　Impact of Climate Change on Mangroves Ecosystem in South Asia

ARCP2011-08CMY-Huda – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1589

• Year 1 Progress Report:　Food Security and Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific Region: Evaluating Mismatch between Crop Development and Water Availability

ARCP2011-07CMY-Han – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1588

• Year 1 Progress Report:　The Impact of Spatial Parameters on GHG Emission: A Comparative Study between Cities in China and India

ARCP2010-13NMY-Bae – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1576

• Year 1 Progress Report:　Climate Change Impact Assessment on the Asia-Pacific Water Resources under GEOSS/AWCI

ARCP2011-02CMY-Koike – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1583

• Final Report: River Management System Development in Asia Based on Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS) under the GEOSS

The Asian monsoon region is uniquely affected by global climate change, drawing international attention to the magnitude and scale of climate variations and their impacts on the nations of the region. The MAIRS (Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Studies) programme was established in 2006 to specifically address the interactions between climate and human systems in the monsoon Asia region, using interdisciplinary approaches to integrate research on human communities, climate and ecosystems. By focusing on the integrated studies in three vulnerable zones (Coastal Urban, Mountain, and Dryland), the MAIRS programme has achieved a significant understanding how the climate-human system interacts but at the same time identified knowledge gaps. The 2014 MAIRS Open Science Conference, to be held in Beijing China, provides a platform for scientists, stakeholders, policy makers, and public in general to present the state-of-the-art findings and challenges in addressing climate change issues in the Monsoon Asia.

Objectives

This Open Science Conference is intended to bring the regional experts to better understand the complexity of the interactive nature between climate, ecosystem and human systems, to enhance integration of different disciplines, sectors, programs, and national efforts across spatial-temporal scales in the Monsoon Asia.

Website
http://www.mairs2014.org/dct/page/1

Important Dates

Online Registration: 1 Feb. 2013 – 28 Feb. 2014
Call for sessions: 1 Feb 2013 – 30 Aug. 2013
Call for abstracts: 1 Oct. 2013 – 31 Jan 2014

The meeting will synthesize and discuss the role of the land system as a platform for human-environment interactions, connecting local land use decisions to global impacts and responses.

Main conference themes:

1. Rethinking land change transitions: drastic changes in land cover and subtle changes in land management
2. Local land users in a tele-connected world: the role of human decision making on land use as both a driver and response to global environmental change
3. Impacts and responses: land systems changes to mitigate global environmental change impacts and adapt to increasing demands for food, fuel and ecosystem services
4. Land governance: the ways in which alternative approaches to governance of land resources can enhance the sustainability transition

For further information: http://www.glp-osm2014.org/

ARCP2011-09CMY-Towprayoon – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1590

• Workshop Agenda: Capacity Building Workshop on:“Strategic rice cultivation with energy crop rotation in Southeast Asia – A path toward climate change mitigation in the agricultural sector”

CBA2011-08NSY-Baker – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1686

• Workshop Report: Regional Scientific and Technical Capacity Building Workshop on the World Ocean Assessment
• Final Report: Towards Engagement in the United Nations Regular Process for Global Assessment of the Marine Environment: Strengthening Capacity of Developing Countries in the Seas of East Asia

AOA2012-08NSY-Lansigan – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1881

• Conference Summary Report: International Conference on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Food and Environmental Security

ARCP2009-05CMY-Sellers – http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1556

• Final Report: Peri-Urban Development and Environmental Sustainability: Examples from China and India

The Journal welcomes submission of original and significant contributions that meets the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Articles submitted should not have been previously published or be currently under consideration elsewhere.

The Journal invites you to submit your manuscript(s) to the editorial office at ijbfs@sciencewebpublishing.net  or ijbfs.scienceweb@gmail.com for publication as it the objective to inform author’s of the decision of their manuscript within four weeks after submission, and following acceptance, the article will normally be published in the journal’s next issue.

Before Submission,

• Authors have to read through the submission guidelines carefully before submission.
• Submitted papers should strictly follow the format as outlined in our instruction for authors.

The International Journal of Biotechnology and Food Science is committed fully to the open access initiative and will provide free access to all articles as soon as they are published.

International Journal of Biotechnology and Food Science (IJFBS): http://sciencewebpublishing.net/ijbfs

About symposium

Tropical forests have been continuing to be disrupted by land use activities, among which forest harvesting has been one of the drivers. IUFRO Division three has been sharing and disseminating the best available knowledge to develop, implement and continuously improve forest operations that are bio-physically effective, economically viable, ergonomically acceptable and environmentally sound.
The symposium aims to bring scholars, professionals, and students together to share the best available knowledge, tools and practices on forest operations in the tropics. The symposium will address four key issues with invited talks, scientific presentations, and working group discussions.

The symposium will be organized by Tropical Forest Ecosystem Sciences Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak(TROFES-UPMBS) in cooperation with International Union Forest Research Organization (IUFRO).

Website

http://www.btu.upm.edu.my/v3/index.php/ms/
http://www.btu.upm.edu.my/v3/index.php/ms/component/content/article?id=227

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: 31/05/2013

Acceptance Notification: 30/06/2013

Early Birds Registration deadline: 31/05/2013

Full paper submission: 20 August 2013

Symposium date: 11-13 September 2013

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate successful proponents.  We also thank all proponents for their continued interest in, and support of, the APN and its activities.

ARCP proposals approved at the 18^th IGM

1. ARCP2012-FP01-Sthiannopkao: Developing Scientific and Management Tools to Address Impacts of Changing Climate and Land Use Patterns on Water Quality in East Asia’s River Basins
2. ARCP2012-FP03-Sellers: Mega-Regional Development and Environmental Change in China and India
3. ARCP2012-FP07-Manton: Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) in Monsoon Asia
4. ARCP2012-FP11-Shrestha: Discharge Scenario and Water Based Adaptation Strategies in South Asia
5. ARCP2012-FP12-Shahid: Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation in Groundwater-dependent Irrigation  System in Asia-Pacific Region
6. ARCP2012-FP17-Prabhakar: Assessing Community Risk Insurance Initiatives and Identifying Enabling Policy and Institutional Factors for Maximizing Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Benefits from Risk Insurance
7. ARCP2012-FP18-Yamada: Adaptation of Solid Waste Management to Frequent Floods in Vulnerable Mid-Scale Asian Cities
8. ARCP2012-FP22-Tangang: Southeast Asia Regional Climate Downscaling Project (SEACLID)
9. ARCP2012-FP23-Patankar: Characterizing Public and Private Adaptation to Climate Change and Implications for Long-Term Adaptive Capacity in Asian Megacities
10. ARCP2012-FP24-Fidelman: Supporting Governance Institutions for Adaptive Capacity to Environmental Change
11. ARCP2012-FP25-Gomboev: “Boreal and Tropical (Monsoonal) Forests and Forest-Steppes in Asian-Pacific Region in Territory of Russia, Mongolia and China: A Comparative Estimation of the Contribution to Softening of Global Climatic Changes and Working out of Measures on Adaptation to Them”
12. ARCP2012-FP26-Miyata: Toward CarboAsia: Integration and Syntheses of Terrestrial Ecosystem Flux Data in Tropics/Subtropics and Croplands in Asia by Activating Regional Tower-Based Observation Networks
13. ARCP2012-FP28-Li: Assessing Spatiotemporal Variability of NPP, NEP and Carbon Sinks of Global Grassland Ecosystem in response to Climate Change in 1911-2011
14. ARCP2012-SGP01-Liu: The Impact of Global Warming on Ocean-Atmosphere Feedback Strength at Tropical Indian Ocean

Continuing multi-year ARCP projects approved at the 18^th IGM for a further year

1. ARCP2012-01CMY-Patra: Greenhouse Gas Budgets of South and Southeast Asia
2. ARCP2012-02CMY-Fortes: Seagrass-Mangrove Ecosystems: Bioshields Against Biodiversity Loss and Impacts of Local and Global Change Along Indo-Pacific Coasts” (The Seagrass-Mangrove Bioshield Project, SMBP)
3. ARCP2012-03CMY-Herath:  Developing Ecosystem-based Adaptation Strategies for Enhancing Resilience of Rice Terrace Farming Systems against Climate Change
4. ARCP2012-09NMY-Meinke:  Improving the Robustness, Sustainability, Productivity and Eco-Efficiencies of Rice Systems Throughout Asia
5. ARCP2012-10NMY-Li:  Development of an Integrated Climate Change Impact Assessment Tool for Urban Policy Makers (UrbanCLIM)
6. APCP2012-11NMY-Quynh:  Carbon Fluxes and Emission from the Red River (Viet Nam and China): Human Activities and Climate Change
7. ARCP2012-12NMY-Roy:  Coastal Ecosystem and Changing Economic Activities: Challenges for Sustainability Transition
8. ARCP2012-13NMY-DeCosta:  A Study on Loss of Land Surface and Changes to Water Resources Resulting From Sea Level Rise and Climate Change
9. ARCP2012-14NMY-Carter:  Coral Reef and Water Quality Status and Community Understanding of Threats in the Eastern Gulf of Thailand
10. ARCP2012-15NMY-Yoo:  Toward a Fire and Haze Early Warning System for Southeast Asia
11. ARCP2012-16NMY-Ochiai:  GEOSS/Asian Water Cycle Initiative/Water Cycle Integrator (GEOSS/AWCI/WCI)
12. ARCP2012-17NMY-Burnett:   Assessing the Impact of Climate Change and Development Pressures on Nutrient Inputs into the Mekong River and Tonle Sap
13. ARCP2012-18NMY-Sase:  Dynamics of Sulphur Derived from Atmospheric Deposition and its Possible Impacts on the East Asian Forests

CAPaBLE proposals approved at the 18^th IGM

1. CBA2012-FP02-WCRP/ CORDEX: International Conference on Regional Climate CORDEX 2013
2. CBA2012-FP03-D’Arrigo: ACRE SE Asia – Towards New Weather and Climate Baselines for Assessing Weather and Climate Extremes, Impacts and Risks over SE Asia
3. CBA2012-FP05-Sutrisno: The Implementation of Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Technology for Sustainable Disaster Management
4. CBA2012-FP07-Shrestha: Enhancing the Groundwater Management Capacity in Asian Cities through the Development and Application of Groundwater Sustainability Index in the Context of Global Change
5. CBA2012-FP08-Dahal: Policy Brief ‘Writeshop’ for Early Career Researcher: An Approach to Promote Greater Science-Policy Interface in South Asia
6. CBA2012-FP09-SOLAS: Capacity Building on Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Study: The SOLAS Summer School
7. CBA2012-FP11-Schuttenberg: Building Capacity for Socio-Ecological Resilience to Coral Bleaching Events in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand
8. CBA2012-FP12-Visco: Communicating and Operationalizing Site-Specific Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Selected Vulnerable Upland Communities in Southeast Asia
9. CBA2012-FP13-Pakharkova: Scale in Earth System Governance: Local Case Studies and Global Sustainability
10. CBA2012-FP14-Fu: Promoting the Sustainability Science in Monsoon Asian Region
11. CBA2012-FP15-Varma: Building Capacity for Adaptive Governance through Participatory Modelling: Rural and Urban Flooding in India
12. CBA2012-FP16-Barik: Promoting Algaculture in Trapped Waters as Sustainable Aqua-Farming and Adaptive Climate Mitigation in Inundated Coastal Areas
13. CBA2012-FP17-Heinrich-Sanchez: Building Capacity on Marine Litter Management in the NOWPAP (Northwest Pacific Action Plan) Region
14. CBA2012-FP18-Dargantes: Strengthening the Capability of Colleges of Agriculture in Incorporating Food and Water Security and Climate Change and Climate Variability into Curricular Programs, Research and Extension Projects and Teaching Modules
    

Continuing multi-year CAPaBLE projects approved at the 18^th IGM for a further year

1. CBA2012-03NMY-Rasul: Impact of Climate Change on Glacier Melting and Water Cycle Variability in Asian River Basins
2. CBA2012-09NMY-Hashim: Global Environmental Change and Human Health:  Extreme Events and Urbanization in the APN Region

CLIMATE CHANGE AND MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
Croucher Summer Course
17-21 June 2013, HONG KONG

For registration
By 31 May 2013
marinesc@ust.hk

Open to all local and international graduate students and early career researchers.
www.marinesummercourse.ust.hk

Oceans play a vital role in the global carbon cycle by acting as a sink for the atmospheric CO2. On the other hand, global warming and ocean acidi­cation has a profound effect on marine organisms and the integrity and function of marine ecosystems. In this fi­rst summer course of this series, we will focus on the microbial food web dynamics under changing climates. Both experimental and modeling approaches will be covered.

Invited Instructors
Prof. Wei-Jun Cai
University of Delaware, USA

Prof. Kunshan Gao
Xiamen University, China

Prof. Michael Landry
Scripps Institute of Oceanography, UCSD, USA

Prof. Edward Laws
Louisiana State University, USA

Prof. Curtis Suttle
The University of British Columbia, Canada

Course Director
Prof. Hongbin Liu
The Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology, HKSAR, China

Course Co-Director
Prof. Paul J. Harrison
The University of British Columbia, Canada

Sponsored by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

12 April 2013, Kobe, Japan

The 18th annual meeting was hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and the Hyogo Prefectural Government, in the city Kobe, where the APN Secretariat is based, five years after the last Japan-hosted IGM/SPG Meeting was held in Kobe in 2008. APN national Focal Points and Scientific Planning Group members from its 22 Member Countries, donor representatives and invited experts participated in this annual gathering.

Observer institutions from the global change community represented include Hyogo Environmental Advancement Association (HEAA), International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), International Council for Science – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ICSU-ROAP), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies – Kansai Research Centre (IGES-KRC), Low Carbon Asia Research Network (LoCARNet), Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS), National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan (NIES), UNEP Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP), Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), United Nations University (UNU), START Temperate East Asia Regional Center (START TEA-RC), US Global Change Research Programme (USGCRP), and World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

Opening Session

Dr. Ryutaro Yatsu, Vice Minister for Global Environment Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan

Dr. Ryutaro Yatsu, Vice Minister for Global Environment Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, officially opened the Meeting. Dr. Yatsu welcomed all participants and recalled his experience as Director of the APN Secretariat from 2010 to 2012, noting that the success and international reputation of APN today could not stand without the continued support of donors, the commitment of APN members and the cooperation of stakeholders.

He gave a brief overview of the history of APN and its core programmes and introduced the recent initiatives launched by the Government of Japan in collaboration with the APN as a response to new developments in the international global change arena.

Specifically, he emphasized the role APN plays in advancing low carbon society through its Low Carbon Initiatives framework; promoting regional research and capacity development on climate adaptation, disaster risk management and loss and damage; and other activities such as the biodiversity and ecosystem services framework that will contribute to regional and international policy decision-making.

Governor Toshizo Ido, Hyogo Prefectural Government (middle)

Governor Toshizo Ido of Hyogo Prefecture delivered opening address at the inaugural session. Governor Ido recalled the establishment of the APN Secretariat in Kobe in 1999, for which he personally made great efforts to bid for hosting this international network in Kobe. Governor Ido expressed his gratefulness for having the APN Secretariat in Kobe, because the city has become an important centre for international organizations working on disaster risk reduction and global change research.

He expressed his appreciations for the work undertaken by the APN, and introduced Hyogo’s efforts in emission reduction, renewable energy production and disaster reduction and prevention. In this regard, he introduced Hyogo Prefectural Government’s achievement of an 8% CO₂ emission reduction compared with the 1992 level, and the need for encouraging emission reduction efforts in the business and household sectors. In addition, he noted that Hyogo is very active in developing sustainable sources of energy, including solar power and wind power, but recognized that being one of the largest energy producers in the Kansai region, Hyogo Prefecture must be conscious of the environment and take proactive measures to achieve sustainability for the well-being of generations to come.

Mr. Sundara Sem, Chair of APN Steering Committee

Mr. Sundara Sem, APN national Focal Point for the Kingdom of Cambodia and Chair of APN Steering Committee provided opening remarks. Mr. Sem provided a comprehensive summary of activities undertaken by the APN over the past year, especially the new initiatives approved by the 17th IGM. He particularly emphasized the increasingly important role APN is playing to promote collaborations at all levels in the region, and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the donors, national Focal Points and Scientific Planning Group members, as well as invited experts and all stakeholders of APN for their support, cooperation and contribution throughout the year.

Dr. Akio Takemoto, Director of APN Secretariat in his opening remarks brought participants on a journey through the history of APN, highlighting the three IGM/SPG meetings held in Japan, all of which marked major milestones of APN’s development. Using an example of climate change impacts on the local sake brewery industry in Kobe, he stressed the importance and timeliness to facilitate research and information sharing in the area of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and loss and damage, which was expected to be a major outcome of the meeting. He also introduced other expected outcomes and expressed his hope that the 18th IGM/SPG meeting would work towards a fruitful outcome, which will better address global change challenges in the region.

Highlights of the IGM/SPG Meeting

The IGM reviewed APN’s work undertaken in fiscal year 2012/13 and approved the proposed work programme and budget plan for 2013/14.

Among the major outcomes of the meeting is the approval of 23 regional research projects (including continuing multi-year projects and new proposals) for funding under the Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP) programme and 16 capacity building projects under the Scientific Capacity Building/Enhancement for Sustainable Development in Developing Countries (CAPaBLE) programme. Results of the ARCP/CAPaBLE projects will be formally announced by the end of April.

A number of proposed new and continuing activities were endorsed by the IGM:

• Sub-Regional Science-Policy Dialogues. Drawing from the success of the first APN-START Science-Policy Dialogue on Challenges of Global Environmental Change in Southeast Asia, similar events are proposed to be held in South Asia and Temperate East Asia, in 2014 and 2015 respectively, to promote informed decision-making on actions to reduce global environmental change.
• Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Framework. Under this framework, APN will enhance collaboration with key partners to support activities that provide the underpinning science of biodiversity and ecosystem services for policy- and decision-making, contributing to the existing needs, including, as highlighted in the outcome of the Rio+20 conference, The Future We Want.
• Involvement in UNFCCC SBSTA and Research Dialogues. Over the past number of years APN has been contributing to the UNFCCC SBSTA research dialogues. This year, APN will continue to be represented and provide input on APN’s work related to SBSTA’s agenda, including information sharing on the technical and scientific aspects of ecosystems with high carbon reservoirs.
• Joint Activities with Hyogo Prefecture. In collaboration with the Hyogo Prefectural Government, the host of APN Secretariat, APN will organize a number of international events that addresses issues of mutual concern, including on enhanced action for climate adaptation; management of shared resources (new commons); and actions towards low carbon society.
• New Activities under the Climate Adaptation Framework, including Disaster Risk Management and Loss and Damage.  APN will expand its Climate Adaptation Framework and introduce new focused activities on adaption, disaster risk management and loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in the Asia-Pacific region, with expected outcomes contributing to the 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP19). Regional research, capacity building and communication activities will be the three pillars of this framework.
• New Focused Publications. A new publication will be published to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the APN CAPaBLE programme, through an all-round review of its achievements over the past decade drawing on successful stories and input from trainees.  A number of other publications to showcase APN’s new activities are also being planned.

Interactive Sessions

Three interactive sessions were conducted during the IGM/SPG Meeting centring around the following themes: 1) climate change-associated disaster risk and loss and damage; 2) the future of global change research; and 3) integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services — strengthening interaction with international science and policy-making communities. The interactive sessions started with stage-setting speeches by invited experts from the above fields, followed by country-level perspectives shared by APN representatives and interactive panel discussions. A summary of the interactive session will be available separately.

Poster Session and the Mitra Award for Global Change Research

The poster session on Day 1 of the IGM/SPG featured activities under APN’s Low Carbon Initiatives framework, and provides an opportunity for young scientists to present their latest work to the APN community. This year, thirteen young scientists from APN Member Countries currently studying or working in Japan were invited to join the poster session. Following an evaluation by  IGM participants, Dr. Joni Jupesta of United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies, was awarded the “Mitra Award for Global Change Research” in recognition of his outstanding poster presentation. On Day 3 of the IGM/SPG Meeting, Dr. Jupesta was invited to make an oral presentation at the main session.

The Mitra Award was created to honour the late Professor Emeritus Dr. Ashesh Proshad Mitra, a prominent member of the APN and SPG member for India from 1996 to 2007, who provided excellent scientific advice to the APN, particularly for its Science Agenda.

Launch of APN Science Bulletin 2013 and Policy Brief on Science-Policy Dialogue in Southeast Asia

The APN Science Bulletin Issue 3 (2013) was released to coincide with the opening of the IGM/SPG Meeting. The 2013 APN Science Bulletin highlights those APN projects either funded and/or completed in fiscal year 2012/13. The Science Bulletin has three main sections: 1) Featured Articles; 2) Regional Research Projects funded under the Annual Regional Call for Research Proposals (ARCP) Programme; and 3) Scientific Capacity Development Projects funded under the CAPaBLE Programme. The Science Bulletin is available for download from the APN E-Lib at http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1879.

A supplement to the Bulletin will be published in early summer 2013 and will include a number of important activities supported by the APN outside its core programmes, for example, the development of Future Earth in Asia and the Pacific, Focussed activities under Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Land-Use, A series of Hyogo-funded workshops on the New Commons, among others.

Also released in conjunction with the IGM/SPG Meeting was a Policy Brief summarizing the key messages emerged from the APN-START Science-Policy Dialogue on Challenges of Global Environmental Change in Southeast Asia held in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2012. To download the policy brief, please visit: http://www.apn-gcr.org/resources/items/show/1880.

For more information please contact: 

Dr. Linda Anne Stevenson, Head, Division of Communication and Scientific Affairs, APN Secretariat, email lastevenson@apn-gcr.org

Mr. Xiaojun Deng, Programme Officer for Communication and Development, email: xdeng@apn-gcr.org

Theme:

Objectives:

1. To discuss approaches to modeling the effects of ocean/climate variability on marine ecosystems,
2. To review their roles in supporting sustainable ecosystem services, and
3. To explore data needs to improve modeling of marine ecosystems.

During his career at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Bernard Megrey studied marine ecosystem dynamics by linking models and observations. He was engaged in national and international efforts to construct integrated end-to-end fisheries ecosystem models, and to seek out and exploit historical data to improve model skill and general knowledge. He chaired the Technical Committee on Data Exchange (TCODE) at the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) and served on the Ecosystem Modeling group of the GLOBEC/IMBER program on Ecosystem Studies of Sub-Arctic Seas (ESSAS). His commitment brought observational and modeling efforts together. In the spirit of Dr. Megrey’s life-long work, this volume aims to synthesize current modeling methodologies for understanding ecosystem dynamics and highlight data needs for improving models.

Guest Editors:
Enrique Curchitser, Shin-ichi Ito, Kenneth Rose, Michio Kishi and Myron Peck

Papers of interest:

Papers on different types of models will be accepted including mass-balance models, size-based models, minimalist models, individual based models (IBMs) and end-to-end models. Special interest is on models that examine trophic interactions as well as models that link biogeochemical processes with higher trophic level production. Papers on methods for estimating uncertainties in model predictions and discuss data requirement to improve modeling approaches are also encouraged.

Timeline:

November 15 2013: Submission deadline (editors provide initial screening of manuscripts).
February 15 2014: First reviews sent to authors
April 15 2014: Revised manuscripts back to editors
July 15 2014: Final revisions, and go/no go decisions by editors.
September 15 2014: Electronic publication
Winter 2015: Hardcopy.

Manuscript submission instructions:

Manuscripts that authors wish to have considered for the special volume of the Progress in Oceanography need to be submitted online through the Progress in Oceanography Manuscript Central website (http://ees.elsevier.com/prooce/). Instructions to authors can be found at (http://www.elsevier.com/journals/progress-in-oceanography/0079-6611/guide-for-authors).

In the cover letter to the editor please provide a justification as to why the paper is relevant to the special volume and highlight the paper’s research significance and particularly its innovative message, along with its primary scientific contribution.
Please provide names and current contact addresses (including e-mail addresses) of three appropriate referees who have not been associated with the manuscript.

Questions on content matters may be directed to the guest editor Enrique Curchitser (enrique@esm.rutgers.edu). Other Guest Editors are Shin-ichi Ito (goito@affrc.go.jp), Kenneth Rose (karose@lsu.edu), Michio Kishi (kishi@salmon.fish.hokudai.ac.jp) and Myron Peck (myron.peck@uni-hamburg.de).

The online submission system is now ready. Please check if you already have a user account on the system or create one for yourself otherwise. To submit:

1. Log in as an author. You may need to set up a username with EES.
2. Once you are logged in, please click on “Submit New Manuscript” and you will see “Choose Article Type” dropdown box.
3. Select “Marine Ecosystem Mod-Obs” and follow steps from there.