MODIV prenseted an e-poster at the 2022 ICES Annual Science Conference. The e-poster can be found here.

Abstract

MODELLING DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF MARINE PLANKTON BIODIVERSITY (MODIV)

Food web interactions and consequently cycling of energy and matter in a given ecosystem are shaped by the biological diversity present. As such complex networks of feeding interactions across trophic levels are inherently linked to biodiversity and play are key to ecosystem functioning. Capturing the functional role of biodiversity in ecosystem models is thus essential for their predictive capabilities in climate change scenarios and their ability to link to ecosystem services. In the oceans, more than half of the food web in terms of organism size is planktonic, encompassing by far most of the biomass and diversity. Advancing the understanding of ecosystem functioning by capturing the different aspects of plankton diversity in models is however a challenging task that requires intense interaction between specialists across different approach. A multitude of models capturing different aspects of plankton diversity have been developed in recent years, but ocean scientists still lack a comprehensive assessment on how the different modelling approaches compare in capturing different components of biodiversity. Here, we present established modelling approaches to study plankton ecology and diversity, discussing the models’ limitations and potentials and limitations. We also emphasize the typical spatial and temporal resolutions employed by these approaches and consider the models’ potential to serve as tools to solve societal challenges. Finally, we make suggestions where on how these different approaches would benefit the most from a broader foundation in field or experimental data.