History

The Ecology Group was created in 1995 and it currently includes a team of researchers in a variety of ecological fields. Since its beginning, the aim of this group was focused on experimentally studying the structure and function of Southwestern Atlantic estuarine ecosystems. Initially, most studies focused on predation, competition, ecosystem engineering, herbivory and sediment dynamics at a small-scale. During the last years, research projects became more interdisciplinary, including the study of processes that regulate food webs, nutrient dynamics in land-water or water-water interfaces, at variable spatial and temporal scales. Additionally, more than 30 undergraduate, 27 graduate and 24 post-doc students did their thesis or research activities in our group. Since its very beginning, our group was funded by national (CONICET, ANPCyT, UNMdP), private (Fundación Antorchas) and international organisms (IAI, International Foundation for Science, National Geographic Society, PNUD/GEF/Patagonia, European Union). All research projects are designed to produce valuable information to be published in high quality scientific journals. The group is also tightly related to the undergraduate course “General Ecology”, which is mandatory to obtain the undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at the National University of Mar del Plata, and where group members share their knowledge and experience with students.