Abstract
The structure and species diversity of natural communities control their adaptation to changing environments. Quantitative estimation of this process is particularly relevant in the face of global climate change. This necessitates the use of ecosystem models that adequately represent the complexity and diversity of natural communities. Ecosystem models have only recently begun to incorporate a realistic representation of natural diversity: novel models let marine plankton communities self-assemble from a great variety of species, with community structure and biodiversity naturally emerging in the model result. The presently proposed study will advance this exploratory work by relating these results directly to real-world observations: laboratory results, field measurements and satellite observations will be used to derive, parameterize and validate an efficient, adaptive model of plankton communities in the world ocean. This model will for the first time combine biomass, productivity, elemental cycles, and biodiversity in a single modelling framework, making it an ideal tool for exploring the complex relationship between biodiversity and various environmental and biological factors.
Netherlands