Made up of leading professors and science researchers, the Ramon Margalef Prize jury unanimously decided to award this honour to Simon A. Levin "for his fundamental contributions to theoretical ecology, particularly in relation to the importance of spatial-temporal heterogeneity, and for his innovative work on the integration of different scales for the understanding of ecological processes". In addition, Doctor Levin has applied scientific approaches to biodiversity conservation and has trained a great many doctoral candidates who have gone on to become acclaimed researchers."

The Premi Ramon Margalef in Ecology was created by the Government of Catalonia in 2004 to honour the memory of Professor Ramon Margalef (Barcelona, 1919-2004), who conducted top-flight scientific and intellectual work in the field of modern ecology, to the point of being considered one of its leading exponents worldwide.

The award comes with a prize of 100,000 euros and a reproduction of a Picarola margalefii, in memory of Doctor Margalef, and is intended to recognise people around the world who have distinguished themselves in the field of ecology. Past prize winners were the scientists Paul Dayton, John Lawton, Harold Mooney, Daniel Pauly and Paul R. Ehrlich.

For this year's prize, there were 22 candidates from around the world. The award will be presented by the President of the Government of Catalonia, José Montilla, on 7 October at an institutional ceremony at the Palau de la Generalitat.