Marine regime shifts around the globe: theory, drivers and impacts

There is still considerable scientific debate on abrupt transitions, and in particular the marine community is largely divided into'believers' and 'sceptics' of the regime shift context. Scientists are trapped in their specific mental models and discussions are mainly focused around the inter-related questions on the predominance of regime shift drivers and the potential existence of alternative, and hence difficult to reverse, stable states. Here, we bring together experts from different marine science disciplines and trophic level expertise (i.e.benthic ecology, pelagic ecology, fisheries, marine conserva-tion and management), from diverse marine ecosystems, and from a mixture of geographical areas around the globe.