The Joint Research Unit (UMR) MARBEC, MARine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation, was created on 1 January 2015. Its supervisory authorities are the IRD, Ifremer, the University of Montpellier and the CNRS.
MARBEC is one of the most important laboratories working on marine biodiversity and its uses in France.
The unit is located in Sète, Montpellier and Palavas-les-flots, as well as in the Indian Ocean (South Africa, Reunion, Mayotte, Seychelles), Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia), Africa (Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Morocco) and South America (Peru, Brazil).
It studies the marine biodiversity of lagoon, coastal and offshore ecosystems, mainly Mediterranean and tropical. Its research focuses on different levels of integration, from molecular, individual, population and community aspects to the use of this biodiversity by Man.
Its research activities are structured into 8 scientific themes:
- Evolutionary ecology and adaptation;
- Individuals, populations and habitats;
- Community dynamics and functioning;
- Micro-organisms and interactions with macro-organisms;
- Contaminants: Fate and Responses;
- Sustainable aquaculture;
- Coastal multiple-use systems;
- Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries.