Ideas and perspectives: climate-relevant marine biologically driven mechanisms in Earth system models
The current generation of marine biogeochemical modules in Earth system models (ESMs) considers mainly the effect of marine biota on the carbon cycle. We propose to also implement other biologically driven mechanisms in ESMs so that more climate-relevant feedbacks are captured. We classify these mec...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Biogeosciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/403/2017/bg-14-403-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | The current generation of marine biogeochemical modules in Earth system
models (ESMs) considers mainly the effect of marine biota on the carbon
cycle. We propose to also implement other biologically driven mechanisms in
ESMs so that more climate-relevant feedbacks are captured. We classify these
mechanisms in three categories according to their functional role in the
Earth system: (1) <q>biogeochemical pumps</q>, which affect the carbon cycling;
(2) <q>biological gas and particle shuttles</q>, which affect the atmospheric
composition; and (3) <q>biogeophysical mechanisms</q>, which affect the thermal,
optical, and mechanical properties of the ocean. To resolve mechanisms from
all three classes, we find it sufficient to include five functional groups:
bulk phyto- and zooplankton, calcifiers, and coastal gas and surface
mat producers. We strongly suggest to account for a larger <i>mechanism
diversity</i> in ESMs in the future to improve the quality of climate projections. |
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| ISSN: | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |