Philippe Koubbi

My research activity is developed around four themes:

1. Ecology of pelagic fishes including meso- and bathypelagic species,
2. Long-term monitoring of plankton and ichthyoplankton in the Southern Ocean,
3. Ecoregionalization of the Southern Ocean integrating biogeochemical and biogeographic subdivisions,
4. Assistance to the proposal of Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean.

My project consists in searching for ecosystem indicators (communities, species and ecophases) to study the biogeography of pelagic species from the surface to the deep sea and to determine ecoregions. Apart from the fundamental aspect of defining the habitats of pelagic species, it is also to help in the proposal of conservation measures concerning the open sea.

From 2003 to 2019, it has been possible to set up observation programs in the Dumont d’Urville Sea from the R/V “Astrolabe” (2003-2011) or in the Indian sub-Antarctic area from the R/V “Marion Dufresne II” (2013-2019). For the Indian sub-Antarctic zone, I started in 2013 plankton sampling with a Continuous Plankton Recorder and from 2017 to 2019 a project on plankton and mesopelagic fish.

I participated to the Census of Antarctic Marine Life and to the Biogeographic Atlas on the Southern Ocean (2nd co-editor in chief).

Current research projects / interests:

• Pelagic ecoregionalisation
• Mesopelagic fish ecology and biogeography
• Zooplankton biogeography
• Marine Protected Areas