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Pushing the frontiers of marine ecological modeling: where are we now and how can we move forward?
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Modeling the shifts of phytoplankton phenology and composition on the Northwest Atlantic Shelf
Monday 7th @ 1410-1430, Conference Room 5
Zhixuan Feng* , Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Rubao Ji, Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Changsheng Chen, School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
Cabell Davis, Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Presenter Email: zfeng@whoi.edu |
| The Northwest Atlantic Shelf is among the world's fastest warming regions in the recent 3-4 decades. The rapidly changing ocean environments could impact marine ecosystem across multiple trophic levels and have important socioeconomic implications. To understand interannual variability and decadal trends in phytoplankton bloom phenology (timing) and relevant physical-biological drivers, we synthesize satellite ocean color data, and also conduct numerical experiments using an intermediate-complexity lower trophic level ecosystem model. We assess the sensitivity of phytoplankton bloom magnitude and timing on temperature-dependent phytoplankton growth and zooplankton grazing versus nutrient and light availability. Additionally, we also examine the corresponding changes in the composition of phytoplankton size groups. The findings from this study allow a better holistic understanding of the pelagic shelf ecosystem and its driving mechanisms under both short-term environmental variability and long-term climate change. |
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