This marine station “SMEL” in Sète (S. France) is located on the shore of the Etang de Thau, the largest coastal lagoon on the Gulf of Lions in South France. The station provides a platform for academic research on marine ecology (food webs and microbial ecology) and the populations of marine organisms (genetics, parasitology, ecophysiology) developed by two research laboratories of the University of Montpellier 2. The laboratory Ecologie des Ecosystèmes Marins Côtiers (ECOSYM, http://www.ecosym.univ-montp2.fr/ ) focuses on the study of the impact of local and global changes related to increasing anthropisation of the coastal ecosystems. The station provides good opportunities for experimentation and in situ observations and hosts the Mediterranean platform for Marine Ecosystem Experimental Research (MEDIMEER, http://www.medimeer.univ-montp2.fr/ ) as well as the observatary activities SUIVI-THAU of the OREME Observatory (www.oreme.univ-montp2.fr). A large part of the ecological research is currently dedicated to the study of pelagic and benthic systems in coastal environments with specific study objects including viruses, bacteria, eukaryotic micro-organisms and zooplankton and further covers ecotoxicology and bioenergy (anr-symbiose.org). Another part of the research developed by the ISEM (Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier) www.isem.cnrs.fr/ includes the study of the ecophysiology of fishes and particularly the mechanisms that explain the variation of traits between individuals of the same species to understand the variability in fitness and tolerance to stress.
Parent institute: Université Montpellier 2; Observatoire des Sciences de l’univers (UM-OREME), more
