Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea
Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain, and knowledge of phytoplankton community structure is fundamental when assessing marine biodiversity. Policy makers and other users require information on marine biodiversity and other aspects of the marine environment for the North Sea, a highly...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-03-01
|
| Series: | Biogeosciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/1419/2017/bg-14-1419-2017.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818317543416266752 |
|---|---|
| author | D. A. Ford J. van der Molen K. Hyder J. Bacon R. Barciela V. Creach R. McEwan P. Ruardij R. Forster |
| author_facet | D. A. Ford J. van der Molen K. Hyder J. Bacon R. Barciela V. Creach R. McEwan P. Ruardij R. Forster |
| author_sort | D. A. Ford |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain, and knowledge of
phytoplankton community structure is fundamental when assessing marine
biodiversity. Policy makers and other users require information on marine
biodiversity and other aspects of the marine environment for the North Sea, a
highly productive European shelf sea. This information must come from a
combination of observations and models, but currently the coastal ocean is
greatly under-sampled for phytoplankton data, and outputs of phytoplankton
community structure from models are therefore not yet frequently validated.
This study presents a novel set of in situ observations of phytoplankton
community structure for the North Sea using accessory pigment analysis. The
observations allow a good understanding of the patterns of surface
phytoplankton biomass and community structure in the North Sea for the
observed months of August 2010 and 2011. Two physical–biogeochemical ocean
models, the biogeochemical components of which are different variants of the
widely used European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM), were then
validated against these and other observations. Both models were a good match
for sea surface temperature observations, and a reasonable match for remotely
sensed ocean colour observations. However, the two models displayed very
different phytoplankton community structures, with one better matching the in
situ observations than the other. Nonetheless, both models shared some
similarities with the observations in terms of spatial features and
inter-annual variability. An initial comparison of the formulations and
parameterizations of the two models suggests that diversity between the
parameter settings of model phytoplankton functional types, along with
formulations which promote a greater sensitivity to changes in light and
nutrients, is key to capturing the observed phytoplankton community
structure. These findings will help inform future model development, which
should be coupled with detailed validation studies, in order to help
facilitate the wider application of marine biogeochemical modelling to user
and policy needs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T09:39:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e72f81cae12f445da5d34d041b14dd3a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T09:39:00Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biogeosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-e72f81cae12f445da5d34d041b14dd3a2022-12-21T23:52:15ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892017-03-011461419144410.5194/bg-14-1419-2017Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North SeaD. A. Ford0J. van der Molen1K. Hyder2J. Bacon3R. Barciela4V. Creach5R. McEwan6P. Ruardij7R. Forster8Met Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UKCentre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UKCentre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UKCentre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UKMet Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UKCentre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UKMet Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UKRoyal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Department of Coastal Systems and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, the NetherlandsCentre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, UKPhytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain, and knowledge of phytoplankton community structure is fundamental when assessing marine biodiversity. Policy makers and other users require information on marine biodiversity and other aspects of the marine environment for the North Sea, a highly productive European shelf sea. This information must come from a combination of observations and models, but currently the coastal ocean is greatly under-sampled for phytoplankton data, and outputs of phytoplankton community structure from models are therefore not yet frequently validated. This study presents a novel set of in situ observations of phytoplankton community structure for the North Sea using accessory pigment analysis. The observations allow a good understanding of the patterns of surface phytoplankton biomass and community structure in the North Sea for the observed months of August 2010 and 2011. Two physical–biogeochemical ocean models, the biogeochemical components of which are different variants of the widely used European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM), were then validated against these and other observations. Both models were a good match for sea surface temperature observations, and a reasonable match for remotely sensed ocean colour observations. However, the two models displayed very different phytoplankton community structures, with one better matching the in situ observations than the other. Nonetheless, both models shared some similarities with the observations in terms of spatial features and inter-annual variability. An initial comparison of the formulations and parameterizations of the two models suggests that diversity between the parameter settings of model phytoplankton functional types, along with formulations which promote a greater sensitivity to changes in light and nutrients, is key to capturing the observed phytoplankton community structure. These findings will help inform future model development, which should be coupled with detailed validation studies, in order to help facilitate the wider application of marine biogeochemical modelling to user and policy needs.http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/1419/2017/bg-14-1419-2017.pdf |
| spellingShingle | D. A. Ford J. van der Molen K. Hyder J. Bacon R. Barciela V. Creach R. McEwan P. Ruardij R. Forster Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea Biogeosciences |
| title | Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea |
| title_full | Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea |
| title_fullStr | Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea |
| title_short | Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea |
| title_sort | observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the north sea |
| url | http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/1419/2017/bg-14-1419-2017.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT daford observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT jvandermolen observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT khyder observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT jbacon observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT rbarciela observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT vcreach observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT rmcewan observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT pruardij observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea AT rforster observingandmodellingphytoplanktoncommunitystructureinthenorthsea |