The EUR-OCEANS Jointly Executed Research (JER) addresses four main aspects of the Earth System: climate and anthropogenic forcing on the pelagic marine environment, pelagic ecosystems end-to-end, biogeochemistry and exploited populations (i.e. ecosystem approach to marine resources).

These four aspects are addressed by WP4 to 7:

WP4 Ecosystems end-to-end

General objective: Identify, quantify and parameterize the major processes governing the structure, functional biodiversity and stability of pelagic ecosystems, their responses to climate and anthropogenic forcing, their effects on biogeochemistry and marine resources, and their feedbacks to the Earth System.

WP5 Biogeochemistry

General objective: Identify, quantify and model the major processes governing the biogeochemical fluxes of substances that are relevant to the interactions between climate and pelagic ecosystems, their responses to climate and anthropogenic forcing, their effects on pelagic ecosystems, and their feedbacks to the Earth System.

WP6 Ecosystem approach to marine resources

General objective: To encourage, co-ordinate and integrate efforts to establish the scientific basis needed to support the move from Fisheries Oceanography to Ecosystem Oceanography and an Ecosystem Approach to Marine Resources (EAMR). More specifically: To foster projects towards the identification, quantification and modelling of the major ecological mechanisms that control exploited populations, their responses to climate and anthropogenic forcing, and their effects on ecosystems.

WP7 Within-system integration

General objective: Sharing generic approaches cross-systems to improve within-system integration