The ECCOWEBS group investigates how marine food webs “echo” environmental change. We study the effects of environmental change on marine organisms, populations and food webs, from the sub-cellular to the whole-animal level, and complex trophic networks. Our investigation focuses mostly on the effects of warming on coastal organisms and their vulnerability status. Our target species are varied, including corals, mollusks, crustaceans, fish and cetaceans.

The main objectives of the group are to contribute to the improved management and sustainable exploitation of the multi-species resources of the Algarve coastal waters.

We are a team of young researchers using data science to aid biodiversity conservation and management, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our research employs cutting-edge technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big-data computational frameworks, to unravel the underlying mechanisms driving biodiversity and to forecast global distribution patterns, ranging from genes to entire ecosystems, and from past climate fluctuations to future climate change scenarios. Our analyses consider anthropogenic impacts, such as climate change, habitat degradation, overexploitation and the introduction of invasive species. We share our data under the FAIR principle (easy to find, access and reuse) to citizens, managers, and policymakers so that they can make informed decisions on the best strategies for protecting, conserving, and managing biodiversity. We believe our work is crucial for ensuring a sustainable future for both human society and the natural world.

The overall research strategy of FBP is driven primarily by the need to translate strong basic science into clinically relevant advances and promoting transfer of technology, based on the integration of high quality multi-disciplinary academic, researcher and clinical activity with a strong focus on translational research.

Systematics, Molecular Phylogenetics, Genomics and Transcriptomics, Biogeography and Ecology, all wrapped up with a healthy dose of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

The team BEE (Biogeographical Ecology and Evolution) studies patterns and processes mediating population biology from ecological to evolutionary scales.

R2C2 studies the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation as threats to biodiversity enhanced by climate change and bridging the gap between genetics and sustainable fisheries management with studies of population genetic structure or stock delineation of commercially and/or recreationally important fisheries.

The Marine Molecular Bioengineering (MBB) research group integrates a range of cross-disciplinary expertise that focuses on the integration of biology with biophysics and bioengineering.

The current main objective of the MMB group is the development and application of nano- and bio-technological tools and materials, including their toxicological assessment, to marine sciences.