Call for Papers from Observatoire PELAGIS (University of La Rochelle / CNRS) and French Agency for Marine Protected Areas (AAMP)

Abundance, distribution and habitats of Atlantic and Mediterranean marine megafauna
Special Issue in Deep-Sea Part II (Topical Studies in Oceanography)
 

Dear Colleagues,

We cordially invite you to submit manuscripts to a Deep Sea Research–II topical issue on European marine megafauna. Marine megafauna, here defined as sea mammals, birds, reptiles and large fishes, share common conservation challenges and can be considered as indicators of the state of the marine environment. In recent years there has been a considerable increase in research effort devoted to marine megafauna in ecosystemic and management-oriented approaches. The societal demand for such an outlook was dramatically reinforced by the recent implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive aimed at maintaining or restoring Good Environmental Status of European waters, of which marine megafauna is a key element. We therefore found it extremely timely to gather recent research on marine megafauna in a topical issue of Deep Sea Research, part II (DSR-II). The goal of this topical issue is (1) to document seasonal variations in abundance, distribution and habitats of marine megafauna, and to (2) understand underlying oceanographic and anthropogenic processes, in order to (3) inform management and conservation decisions. Relevance to understanding structures and processes, and potential to inform management will be key considerations in selecting successful papers. A focus will be given to the Atlantic and Mediterranean marine strategy framework directive (MSFD) sub-regions. Methodological papers (study design or analysis) may be considered as well, but please contact guest editors first.

Our goal is to have this issue published by autumn 2016. To meet this target date, manuscripts, must be submitted to the Guest Editors (listed below) before December 1, 2015. Articles will be reviewed following the normal procedures of DSR-II, so that all accepted and revised manuscripts can be sent to Deep-Sea Research-II Chief Editor in late July 2016 at the latest. Papers accepted well before this deadline will be made available online prior to this deadline and could be cited through their DOI. If you are interested in contributing within the mentioned time schedule, please contact one of the Guest Editors for further details.

There are no page charges for papers published within the topical issue. Colour illustrations are free of charge for the electronic version, but inclusion of colour illustrations in the printed version will be charged. Black and white figures are free of charges in all cases. Authors can provide a set of colour figures for the electronic version and a set of black and white figures for the printed version.

All submitted papers must be clearly written in standard scientific English and contain only original work, which has not been published or submitted elsewhere. Papers must not exceed 10,000 words including figures, tables and references. Shorter manuscripts are welcome as well. A detailed submission guideline is available as “Guide to Authors” at Deep-Sea Research II homepage. All manuscripts and any supplementary material should be submitted through the Elsevier Editorial System (ees.elsevier.com/dsr2/). Once logged in, please select “SI: European Marine Megafauna” when prompted to choose article type.

Guest Editors

Vincent Ridoux (vincent.ridoux@univ-lr.fr)
Jérôme Spitz (jerome.spitz@univ-lr.fr)
Matthieu Authier (matthieu.authier@univ-lr.fr)
Aurélie Blanck (aurelie.blanck@aires-marines.fr)