A general size- and trait-based model of plankton communities

Serra-Pompei, Camila; Soudijn, Floor; Visser, André W.; Kiørboe, Thomas; Andersen, Ken Haste

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102473

Cited by 24 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 91 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The NUM framework (nutrients-unicellular-multicellular) is a mechanistic size- and trait-based model of the planktonic community (Serra-Pompei et al, 2020). The original model resolves the size distribution of protists (autotrophic, mixotrophic, heterotrophic), the copepod community, copepod fecal pellets, and one pool of nitrogen.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Next, we describe the modelled physical environment, the numerical simulations, and the data used to test the model. The supporting information contains additional figures (section A), and all parameter values, the remaining equations, and a list of the changes and extensions made to the model relative to the original version in Serra-Pompei et al (2020) (section B).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). A detailed explanation of the model and its equations can be found in the supplementary material and in (Serra-Pompei et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here we explore the drivers of plankton food web structure and associated carbon export efficiency. We use the Nutrient-Unicellular-Multicellular (NUM) size-spectrum model of the planktonic community (Serra-Pompei et al, 2020), coupled to a 3D representation of the global ocean circulation (Khatiwala et al, 2005; Khatiwala, 2007). Food web structure emerges from the model, and the model yields size spectra of plankton and detrital particles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Linking plankton size spectra and community composition to carbon export and its efficiency

Serra-Pompei

Ward

Pinti

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The flux of detrital particles produced by plankton is an important component of the biological carbon pump. We investigate how food web structure and organisms' size regulate particulate carbon export efficiency (the fraction of primary production that is exported via detrital particles at a given depth). We use the Nutrient-Unicellular-Multicellular (NUM) mechanistic size-spectrum model of the planktonic community (unicellular protists and copepods), embedded within a 3D model representation of the global ocean circulation. The ecosystem model generates emergent food webs and size distributions of all organisms and detrital particles. Model outputs are compared to field data. We find that strong predation by copepods increases export efficiency, while protist predation reduces it. We find no clear relation between primary production and export efficiency. Temperature indirectly drives carbon export efficiency by affecting the biomass of copepods. High temperatures, combined with nutrient limitation, result in low growth efficiency, smaller trophic transfer to higher trophic levels, and decreased carbon export efficiency. Even though copepods consume a large fraction of the detritus produced, they do not markedly attenuate the particle flux. Our simulations illustrate the complex relation between the planktonic food web and export efficiency, and highlights the central role of zooplankton and their size structure.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). A detailed explanation of the model and its equations can be found in the supplementary material and in (Serra-Pompei et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Linking plankton size spectra and community composition to carbon export and its efficiency

Serra-Pompei

Ward

Pinti

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Using these different approaches, numerous models at the population or community levels have been developed to study zooplankton and their response to both biotic and abiotic changes in their environment (e.g., Carlotti et al 2000;Flynn and Irigoien 2009;Zhou et al 2010;Pinceel et al 2016). Some of these models have been integrated in biogeochemical models (e.g., Fennel 2001;Baird and Suthers 2007;Zhou et al 2010;Serra-Pompei et al 2020). However, to our knowledge, the consequences of explicitly describing ontogenetic growth and reproduction of mesozooplankton have not been extensively explored, especially concerning biogeochemistry and plankton dynamics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Should we account for mesozooplankton reproduction and ontogenetic growth in biogeochemical modeling?

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mesozooplankton play a key role in marine ecosystems as they modulate the transfer of energy from phytoplankton to large marine organisms. In addition, they directly influence the oceanic cycles of carbon and nutrients through vertical migrations, fecal pellet production, respiration, and excretion. Mesozooplankton are mainly made up of metazoans, which undergo important size changes during their life cycle, resulting in significant variations in metabolic rates. However, most marine biogeochemical models represent mesozooplankton as protists-like organisms. Here, we study the potential caveats of this simplistic representation by using a chemostat-like zero-dimensional model with four different Nutrient-Phytoplankton-Zooplankton configurations in which the description of mesozooplankton ranges from protist-type organisms to using a size-based formulation including explicit reproduction and ontogenetic growth. We show that the size-based formulation strongly impacts mesozooplankton. First, it generates a delay of a few months in the response to an increase in food availability. Second, the increase in mesozooplankton biomass displays much larger temporal variations, in the form of successive cohorts, because of the dependency of the ingestion rate to body size. However, the size-based formulation does not affect smaller plankton or nutrient concentrations. A proper assessment of these top-down effects would require implementing our size-resolved approach in a 3-dimensional biogeochemical model. Furthermore, the bottom-up effects on higher trophic levels resulting from the significant changes in the temporal dynamics of mesozooplankton could be estimated in an end-to-end model coupling low and high trophic levels.

show abstract

Toward trait‐based food webs: Universal traits and trait matching in planktonic predator–prey and host–parasite relationships

Litchman

Edwards

Boyd

2021

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is a growing consensus that traits offer a powerful way to examine the relationship between the environment, organismal strategies, species interactions, and ecological success. To date, trait‐based research has largely been focusing on individual trophic levels and not on cross‐level interactions. Looking at traits not only within but across trophic levels and identifying traits that together define trophic interactions holds a great potential for understanding the mechanisms of interactions. Here, we outline the conceptual foundation for cross‐trophic trait‐based frameworks, using planktonic food webs as an example. First, we compile a list of traits important within different individual trophic levels and show that there are traits that are common across trophic levels (“universal” traits), as well as trophic level‐specific traits. Next, we focus on traits that characterize interactions across trophic levels, focusing on two types of interaction—grazer–primary producer and host–parasite, identifying the similarities and differences between these interactions. We outline the trait hierarchies that define possible and realized intertrophic interactions and their strengths. We then highlight the importance of trade‐offs among those traits in shaping interactions and explaining general patterns in the structure and function of food webs. Finally, we discuss the environmental influences on traits, their eco‐evolutionary responses to changing conditions and how those responses may alter trophic interactions. The extension of trait‐based approaches from individual trophic levels to food webs and different trophic interactions should stimulate further conceptual development, enrich the field of aquatic sciences, and provide a framework to better predict global change effects on ecosystems.

show abstract

A general size- and trait-based model of plankton communities

Cited by 24 publications

References 91 publications

Linking plankton size spectra and community composition to carbon export and its efficiency

Linking plankton size spectra and community composition to carbon export and its efficiency

Should we account for mesozooplankton reproduction and ontogenetic growth in biogeochemical modeling?

Toward trait‐based food webs: Universal traits and trait matching in planktonic predator–prey and host–parasite relationships

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About