BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

PEP-87 Cruise (29GD19870523) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 1987., The PEP-87 campaign studies deep summer production.

VARIMED Cruise (29HE19930601) carried out on the Research Vessel Hespérides in 1993, Mesoscale variability in the Western Mediterranean.(VARIMED). This campaign aims to study the role of mesoscale circulation structures in the general circulation of the surface layer and in the processes that determine both the biological productivity and the transport of organisms and sedimentary material, 1) Study of the structures of mesoscale and its interaction with the average circulation in frontal zones 2) Study of the coupling between the variability of physical and biological phenomena on a slope-platform front 3) Study of the relationship between platform-slope water mass exchanges with the Passive and dynamic transport of larval stages of pelagic and demersal species

VARIMED-95 Cruise (29HE19950602) carried out on the Research Vessel Hespérides in 1995, Mediterranean pelagic ecosystem study: analysis of plankton dynamics. The main objectives are the study of the temporal variability of high frequency (hours) and medium (days, weeks) of the physical and biological phenomena that determine the transfer of matter and energy in the pelagic system (classic trophic networks, based on phytoplankton < herbivore zooplankton < fishes, or microbial networks, based on Phytoplankton < bacteria < flagellates and ciliates< zooplankton < fish. Several in situ experiments have been conducted

PERFILMED-I Cruise (29GD20080718) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2008, In most of the plankton production models, space is not taken into consideration, as if the pelagic trophic relations took place in an evenly distributed universe. Food or predators are parametrised as average concentration values, although spatial heterogeneity and time variability (patchiness) at all scales is a constant characteristic for marine physical and chemical variables, as well as for plankton communities. The vertical structure of plankton in patches or layers has been described since long , but their effects on the coupling between the different trophic components and the oceanographic singularities that control the matter and energy transfer have been poorly studied. In order to allow us to explain some paradoxical features of consumers production under conditions of low average resource availability, in the Framework of the PERFIL-MED cruise we studied the time-changes on the vertical pattern distribution of meso- and microplankton in relation to physical heterogeneities during the summer stratification period. Profiles of physical (T, S), chemical (O ) and biological (fluorescence) data were made with a CTD SBE 911plus. The high-resolution vertical distribution of the rate of turbulent mechanical energy dissipation, epsilon, was obtained with a MST micro-structure profiler®. The vertical distribution of organisms ranging from 50 µm to 2 mm ESR was obtained with a TAPS® (high resolution acoustics, 6 frequency channels from 265 to 3000 KHz). For depthstratified plankton hauls (15-level, from 0 to 200 m depth) we used a LHPR® fitted with 200 and 50 µm-mesh gauzes, and the on-board analysis of microplankton was made with a FlowCam® on depth-selected water samples. All the profiles were obtained in the 0-200 m depth water column. The analysis of zooplankton biovolume, the organic C contents (from biovolume and a conversion factor), individual numbers and the identification of taxonomic groups, was made using the free software ZooImage® , which uses ImageJ® for the step of image analysis, and R for classification and data analysis

PERFILMED-II Cruise (29GD20090627) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2009, In most of the plankton production models, space is not taken into consideration, as if the pelagic trophic relations took place in an evenly distributed universe. Food or predators are parametrised as average concentration values, although spatial heterogeneity and time variability (patchiness) at all scales is a constant characteristic for marine physical and chemical variables, as well as for plankton communities. The vertical structure of plankton in patches or layers has been described since long , but their effects on the coupling between the different trophic components and the oceanographic singularities that control the matter and energy transfer have been poorly studied. In order to allow us to explain some paradoxical features of consumers production under conditions of low average resource availability, in the Framework of the PERFIL-MED cruise we studied the time-changes on the vertical pattern distribution of meso- and microplankton in relation to physical heterogeneities during the summer stratification period.The study took place on board the R/V García del Cid, from the 27/06/09 to the 01/07/09 in the Catalan Sea, NW Mediterranean, at a fixed station (40.45 ºN, 2.39 ºE). Profiles of physical (T, S), chemical (O ) and biological (fluorescence) data were made with a CTD SBE 911plus. The high-resolution vertical distribution of the rate of turbulent mechanical energy dissipation, epsilon, was obtained with a MST micro-structure profiler®. The vertical distribution of organisms ranging from 50 µm to 2 mm ESR was obtained with a TAPS® (high resolution acoustics, 6 frequency channels from 265 to 3000 KHz). For depthstratified plankton hauls (15-level, from 0 to 200 m depth) we used a LHPR® fitted with 200 and 50 µm-mesh gauzes, and the on-board analysis of microplankton was made with a FlowCam® on depth-selected water samples. All the profiles were obtained in the 0-200 m depth water column. The analysis of zooplankton biovolume, the organic C contents (from biovolume and a conversion factor), individual numbers and the identification of taxonomic groups, was made using the free software ZooImage® , which uses ImageJ® for the step of image analysis, and R for classification and data analysis