El Joc de la Soca: ecological succession told by ecologist Ramon Margalef
Moving pieces forward while the natural ecosystem phases evolve -ecological succession- and going back if there is any alteration such as a fire or biological plagues. This is the playful and training proposal of Joc de la Soca (Game of the Trunk), an educational proposal designed by the prestigious ecologist Ramon Margalef (1919-2004), promoter of the creation of the former Department of Ecology of the UB and first Professor of Ecology at the University of Barcelona and in Spain since 1967. Now, a new edition of Joc de la Soca -in a four square meter board format- will be shown in the main hall of the Ramon Margalef building at the Faculty of Biology on October 24, and will be open until the end of the year.
Moving pieces forward while the natural ecosystem phases evolve -ecological succession- and going back if there is any alteration such as a fire or biological plagues. This is the playful and training proposal of Joc de la Soca (Game of the Trunk), an educational proposal designed by the prestigious ecologist Ramon Margalef (1919-2004), promoter of the creation of the former Department of Ecology of the UB and first Professor of Ecology at the University of Barcelona and in Spain since 1967. Now, a new edition of Joc de la Soca -in a four square meter board format- will be shown in the main hall of the Ramon Margalef building at the Faculty of Biology on October 24, and will be open until the end of the year.
Within the frame of the activities to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Professor Margalef, this popular game inspired by science has been now re-edited as an initiative from the Vice-rectorʼs Office of Arts, Culture and Heritage of the UB, in collaboration with the Faculty of Biology and the professor Narcís Prat, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management Research Group (FEHM) of the University of Barcelona.
Also, the game has been edited as an educational source for primary and secondary education with the support from the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona and the Barcelona City Council. Also, on the occasion of the Ramon Margalef Year, the Biology CRAI Library will provide an exhibition of scientific documents at the Faculty on the topic of ecological succession from Professor Margalefʼs view.
A board game to explain ecological succession
With Joc de la Soca, designed by Margalef in 1985 for an exhibition, the prestigious ecologist wanted to explain, in a communicative way, the concept of ecological succession, a feature in all natural ecosystems. Through an analogy, Margalef wanted to show in a fun way- a dynamic and complex process in ecology, which in this game, starts with the growth of small plants and then, bushes and trees. As the ecological succession goes on, species change as well as their interrelation in the ecosystem, and landscape changes and takes different shapes depending on the period of the natural cycle. The game also shows participants how some perturbations -fires, etc.- can move the community to the early phases of the ecological succession, that is, the start of the game.
Ramon Margalef: international figure in the field of ecology
Ramon Margalef (1919-2004) is internationally regarded one of the most prestigious Spanish scientists of the 20th century, together with Santiago Ramón y Cajal and Severo Ochoa, awarded with the Nobel Prize. He was one of the most cited ecologists, and author of distinguished works which are a must to understand the functioning of nature, such as Ecología (1974), Limnología (1983) and Our biosphere (1997). Margalef was awarded in 1980 by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (Canada) the Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences, regarded as the Nobel of oceanography.
The Ramon Margalef Fund in CRAI and Espai Margalef -an initiative led by professors Mercè Durfort and Narcís Prat, together with the Biology CRAI Library- show the scientific legacy of the Catalan ecologist. Moreover, regarding publications, there is the book Ramon Margalef, ecólogo de la biosfera (Editions and Publications of the UB), by Narcís Prat, Joandomènec Ros and Francesc Peters, a scientific biography of the Catalan ecologist published with the sponsorship of Agbar Foundation on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death.
More information of the commemorative activities on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Ramon Margalef.