Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Plankton energy flows using a global size-structured and trait-based model

Journal Article · · Progress in Oceanography
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); OSTI
  2. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Princeton NJ (United States)
  3. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
Plankton community models are critical tools for understanding the processes that shape marine plankton communities, how plankton communities impact biogeochemical cycles, and the feedbacks between community structure and function. Here, using the flexible Marine Biogeochemistry Library (MARBL), we present the Size-based Plankton ECological TRAits (MARBL-SPECTRA) model, which is designed to represent a diverse plankton community while remaining computationally tractable. MARBL-SPECTRA is composed of nine phytoplankton and six zooplankton size classes represented using allometric scaling relationships for physiological traits and interactions within multiple functional types. MARBL-SPECTRA is embedded within the global ocean component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and simulates large-scale, emergent patterns in phytoplankton growth limitation, plankton phenology, plankton generation time, and trophic transfer efficiency. The model qualitatively reproduces observed global patterns of surface nutrients, chlorophyll biomass, net primary production, and the biogeographies of a range of plankton size classes. In addition, the model simulates how predator:prey dynamics and trophic efficiency vary across gradients in total ecosystem productivity. Shorter food chains that export proportionally more carbon from the surface to the ocean interior occur in productive, eutrophic regions, whereas in oligotrophic regions, the food chains are relatively long and export less organic matter from the surface. The union of functional type modeling with size-resolved, trait-based modeling approaches allows MARBL-SPECTRA to capture both large-scale elemental cycles and the structure of planktonic food webs affecting trophic transfer efficiency.
Research Organization:
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012603
OSTI ID:
2420244
Journal Information:
Progress in Oceanography, Journal Name: Progress in Oceanography Journal Issue: C Vol. 209; ISSN 0079-6611
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (185)

Preferential remineralization of dissolved organic phosphorus and non-Redfield DOM dynamics in the global ocean: Impacts on marine productivity, nitrogen fixation, and carbon export journal March 2015
Modeling photosynthesis in sea ice-covered waters: PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN SEA ICE-COVERED WATERS journal July 2015
The export and fate of organic matter in the ocean: New constraints from combining satellite and oceanographic tracer observations: EXPORT AND FATE OF MARINE ORGANIC MATTER journal March 2017
Light and growth in marine phytoplankton: allometric, taxonomic, and environmental variation: Light and growth in marine phytoplankton journal January 2015
Size as the master trait in modeled copepod fecal pellet carbon flux journal September 2015
Temperature‐ and size‐scaling of phytoplankton population growth rates: Reconciling the Eppley curve and the metabolic theory of ecology journal March 2017
Changes in the relationship between zooplankton and phytoplankton biomasses across a eutrophication gradient journal August 2018
The effect of body size on animal abundance journal October 1983
Life cycle of the copepod Calanus hyperboreus in the Greenland Sea journal June 1997
The global climatology of an interannually varying air–sea flux data set journal August 2008
Population and community responses of phytoplankton to fluctuating light journal November 1998
Vertical nitrogen flux from the oceanic photic zone by diel migrant zooplankton and nekton journal June 1988
Multiple nutrient limitations in ecological models journal August 1989
Wax esters: major metabolites in the marine environment journal September 1979
Zooplankton vertical migration and the active transport of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon in the Sargasso Sea journal January 2000
Configuring an ecosystem model using data from the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) journal January 2001
Seasonal patterns of mesozooplankton abundance and biomass at Station ALOHA journal January 2001
A new, mechanistic model for organic carbon fluxes in the ocean based on the quantitative association of POC with ballast minerals journal January 2001
An intermediate complexity marine ecosystem model for the global domain journal January 2001
Variability in the spatio-temporal distribution and size-structure of phytoplankton across an upwelling area in the NW-Alboran Sea, (W-Mediterranean) journal March 2005
The beam attenuation to chlorophyll ratio: an optical index of phytoplankton physiology in the surface ocean? journal December 2003
Temporal variability in phytoplankton pigments, picoplankton and coccolithophores along a transect through the North Atlantic and tropical southwestern Pacific journal April 2006
Controls on the ratio of mesozooplankton production to primary production in marine ecosystems journal January 2010
Major contribution of diatom resting spores to vertical flux in the sub-polar North Atlantic journal December 2013
A comparison of global estimates of marine primary production from ocean color journal March 2006
Adding complex trophic interactions to a size-spectral plankton model: Emergent diversity patterns and limits on predictability journal August 2011
A functional size-spectrum model of the global marine ecosystem that resolves zooplankton composition journal November 2020
Global Nutrient Export from WaterSheds 2 (NEWS 2): Model development and implementation journal July 2010
Microzooplankton production in the oceans journal January 2004
Photosynthesis and respiration in marine phytoplankton: Relationship with cell size, taxonomic affiliation, and growth phase journal August 2014
Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments (COREs) journal January 2009
Understanding the export of biogenic particles in oceanic waters: Is there consensus? journal March 2007
Global-scale carbon and energy flows through the marine planktonic food web: An analysis with a coupled physical–biological model journal January 2014
Coccolithophore growth and calcification in a changing ocean journal December 2017
Simulating the ocean’s chlorophyll dynamic range from coastal upwelling to oligotrophy journal November 2018
Global ecological and biogeochemical impacts of pelagic tunicates journal July 2022
A theoretical approach to structuring mechanisms in the pelagic food web journal January 1997
Planktic foraminiferal sedimentation and the marine calcite budget journal October 2002
An ecosystem model of the global ocean including Fe, Si, P colimitations: AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL OF THE WORLD OCEAN journal June 2003
Response of ocean ecosystems to climate warming journal July 2004
Upper ocean ecosystem dynamics and iron cycling in a global three-dimensional model: GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM-BIOGEOCHEMICAL MODEL journal December 2004
Carbon-based ocean productivity and phytoplankton physiology from space: PHYTOPLANKTON GROWTH RATES AND OCEAN PRODUCTIVITY journal January 2005
A synthesis of global particle export from the surface ocean and cycling through the ocean interior and on the seafloor: GLOBAL PARTICLE EXPORT AND CYCLING journal October 2007
Seasonal distribution and succession of dominant phytoplankton groups in the global ocean: A satellite view journal July 2008
Modeling the coupling of ocean ecology and biogeochemistry: COUPLING OF ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY journal November 2009
Modeling phytoplankton growth rates and chlorophyll to carbon ratios in California coastal and pelagic ecosystems journal January 2010
Biogeographical controls on the marine nitrogen fixers: CONTROLS ON MARINE NITROGEN FIXERS journal April 2011
Global patterns in efficiency of particulate organic carbon export and transfer to the deep ocean: EXPORT AND TRANSFER EFFICIENCY journal March 2012
Evaluating the Potential Impacts of the Diurnal Vertical Migration by Marine Organisms on Marine Biogeochemistry journal November 2018
Drivers of Carbon Export Efficiency in the Global Ocean journal July 2019
Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations journal May 2019
The Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) journal February 2020
Gelatinous Zooplankton‐Mediated Carbon Flows in the Global Oceans: A Data‐Driven Modeling Study journal September 2020
Linking Plankton Size Spectra and Community Composition to Carbon Export and Its Efficiency journal May 2022
Production and dissolution of biogenic silica in the ocean: Revised global estimates, comparison with regional data and relationship to biogenic sedimentation journal September 1995
Effects of plankton dynamics on seasonal carbon fluxes in an ocean general circulation model journal December 1996
The role of nitrogen fixation in biogeochemical cycling in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean journal August 1997
Effects of size and temperature on developmental time journal May 2002
Efficient CO2 fixation by surface Prochlorococcus in the Atlantic Ocean journal April 2014
Global biodiversity patterns of marine phytoplankton and zooplankton journal June 2004
Doubling of marine dinitrogen-fixation rates based on direct measurements journal August 2012
Climate-mediated dance of the plankton journal September 2014
Impact of ocean acidification on the structure of future phytoplankton communities journal July 2015
Global relationship between phytoplankton diversity and productivity in the ocean journal July 2014
Strong latitudinal patterns in the elemental ratios of marine plankton and organic matter journal March 2013
Processes and patterns of oceanic nutrient limitation journal March 2013
Intensification of open-ocean oxygen depletion by vertically migrating animals journal June 2013
Large-scale variations in the stoichiometry of marine organic matter respiration journal November 2014
Revisiting the distribution of oceanic N2 fixation and estimating diazotrophic contribution to marine production journal February 2019
Light-dependent grazing can drive formation and deepening of deep chlorophyll maxima journal April 2019
Marine phytoplankton functional types exhibit diverse responses to thermal change journal November 2021
Convergent estimates of marine nitrogen fixation journal February 2019
Mechanisms shaping size structure and functional diversity of phytoplankton communities in the ocean journal March 2015
Scaling the metabolic balance of the oceans journal May 2006
A simple nutrient-dependence mechanism for predicting the stoichiometry of marine ecosystems journal June 2015
Marine mixotrophy increases trophic transfer efficiency, mean organism size, and vertical carbon flux journal February 2016
Silica Use Through Time: Macroevolutionary Change in the Morphology of the Diatom Fustule journal September 2010
The Timing of Copepod Diapause as an Evolutionarily Stable Strategy journal June 1984
Shifts in Mass Scaling of Respiration, Feeding, and Growth Rates across Life-Form Transitions in Marine Pelagic Organisms journal April 2014
The role of predation in plankton models journal January 1992
The allometry of algal growth rates journal January 1995
Effect of body size and temperature on generation time in zooplankton journal February 2000
Adding Detritus to a Nutrient-Phytoplankton-Zooplankton Model:A Dynamical-Systems Approach journal April 2001
Plankton community response to fronts: winners and losers journal February 2022
Phytoplankton in a changing world: cell size and elemental stoichiometry journal October 2009
General patterns in the size scaling of phytoplankton abundance in coastal waters during a 10-year time series journal October 2009
Microzooplankton grazing in the oceans: impacts, data variability, knowledge gaps and future directions journal March 2013
Modelling spatial and temporal patterns in size-structured marine plankton communities: top–down and bottom–up controls journal October 2013
Isometric size-scaling of metabolic rate and the size abundance distribution of phytoplankton journal December 2011
Mammoth grazers on the ocean's minuteness: a review of selective feeding using mucous meshes journal May 2018
Unimodal size scaling of phytoplankton growth and the size dependence of nutrient uptake and use journal December 2012
The biogeography of marine plankton traits journal January 2013
Exploring biogeochemical and ecological redundancy in phytoplankton communities in the global ocean journal January 2021
Temperature and the biogeography of algal stoichiometry: Temperature dependence of algal stoichiometry journal January 2015
Linking the global carbon cycle to individual metabolism journal April 2005
Invariant scaling of phytoplankton abundance and cell size in contrasting marine environments journal September 2006
The role of functional traits and trade-offs in structuring phytoplankton communities: scaling from cellular to ecosystem level journal December 2007
How zooplankton feed: mechanisms, traits and trade-offs journal April 2011
A Theoretical Analysis of the Contribution of Algal Cells to the Attenuation of Light Within Natural Waters. iii. Cylindrical and Spheroidal Cells journal September 1976
Adaptation of Unicellular Algae to Irradiance: an Analysis of Strategies journal February 1983
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND CELL SIZE OF MARINE DIATOMS12 journal June 1976
OSCILLATORIA (TRICHODESMIUM) THIEBAUTII (CYANOPHYTA) IN THE CENTRAL NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN12 journal March 1979
Growth, Photosynthesis and Maintenance Metabolic cost in the Diatom Phaeodactylum Tricornutum at very low Light Levels journal March 1986
PHOSPHATE UPTAKE AND GROWTH KINETICS OFTRICHODESMIUM(CYANOBACTERIA) ISOLATES FROM THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA1 journal January 2005
Effects of Size and Temperature on Metabolic Rate journal September 2001
The North Atlantic Spring Phytoplankton Bloom and Sverdrup's Critical Depth Hypothesis journal April 2002
Niche Partitioning Among Prochlorococcus Ecotypes Along Ocean-Scale Environmental Gradients journal March 2006
Emergent Biogeography of Microbial Communities in a Model Ocean journal March 2007
Patterns of Diversity in Marine Phytoplankton journal February 2010
Faking Giants: The Evolution of High Prey Clearance Rates in Jellyfishes journal September 2011
Biogeochemical Controls and Feedbacks on Ocean Primary Production journal July 1998
Phosphate Depletion in the Western North Atlantic Ocean journal August 2000
The predator-prey power law: Biomass scaling across terrestrial and aquatic biomes journal September 2015
Structure of Pelagic Food Chain and Relationship Between Plankton and Fish Production
  • Sheldon, R. W.; Sutcliffe Jr., W. H.; Paranjape, M. A.
  • Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Vol. 34, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1139/f77-314
journal December 1977
Cell Size as a Key Determinant of Phytoplankton Metabolism and Community Structure journal January 2015
The Physiology and Ecology of Diapause in Marine Copepods journal January 2017
Reflections About Chance in My Career, and on the Top-Down Regulated World journal January 2013
Ecological Stoichiometry of Ocean Plankton journal January 2018
Characteristic Sizes of Life in the Oceans, from Bacteria to Whales journal January 2016
The Community Climate System Model Version 4 journal October 2011
The CCSM4 Ocean Component journal March 2012
Marine Ecosystem Dynamics and Biogeochemical Cycling in the Community Earth System Model [CESM1(BGC)]: Comparison of the 1990s with the 2090s under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 Scenarios journal December 2013
Scaling and power-laws in ecological systems journal May 2005
A nitrogen-based model of plankton dynamics in the oceanic mixed layer journal August 1990
Jellyfish Body Plans Provide Allometric Advantages beyond Low Carbon Content journal August 2013
Predator and prey body Sizes in Marine food webs journal March 2008
Size‐spectra dynamics from stochastic predation and growth of individuals journal March 2009
Body Sizes of Animal Predators and Animal Prey in Food Webs journal January 1993
Microbial food webs and the export of biogenic carbon in oceans journal January 1995
Trichodesmium spp. physiology and nutrient fluxes in the North Pacific subtropical gyre journal January 1998
The Ecological Role of Water-Column Microbes in the Sea journal January 1983
Size dependence of growth and photosynthesis in diatoms: a synthesis journal January 1986
A theoretical model for nutrient uptake in phytoplankton journal January 1991
Nitrogen fixation and growth rates of Trichodesmium IMS-101 as a function of light intensity journal May 2008
Species richness and cell-size distribution: size structure of phytoplankton communities journal April 2008
Carbon-to-chlorophyll ratio and growth rate of phytoplankton in the sea journal May 2009
Plankton community properties determined by nutrients and size-selective feeding journal August 2010
Who is eating whom? Morphology and feeding type determine the size relation between planktonic predators and their ideal prey journal January 2012
Temperature effects on the growth rate of marine picoplankton journal May 2014
Planktonic biomass size spectra: an emergent property of size-dependent physiological rates, food web dynamics, and nutrient regimes journal November 2014
DMSP-lyase activity in a spring phytoplankton bloom off the Dutch coast, related to Phaeocystis sp. abundance journal January 1995
Zooplankton trophic structure and ecosystem productivity journal June 2022
Food-web mediated export of biogenic carbon in oceans:hydrodynamic control journal January 1996
Dynamic model of phytoplankton growth and acclimation:responses of the balanced growth rate and the chlorophyll a:carbon ratio to light, nutrient-limitation and temperature journal January 1997
Photoacclimation and nutrient-based model of light-saturated photosynthesis for quantifying oceanic primary production journal January 2002
Mortality of marine planktonic copepods: global rates and patterns journal January 2002
Growth kinetics of marine unicellular N2-fixing cyanobacterial isolates in continuous culture in relation to phosphorus and temperature journal January 2005
The Physiological Response of Picophytoplankton to Temperature and Its Model Representation journal September 2016
Half-Saturation Constants for Uptake of Nitrate and Ammonium by Marine Phytoplankton1 journal November 1969
Growth-irradiance relationships in phytoplankton1: Growth-irradiance relationships journal March 1985
The size ratio between planktonic predators and their prey journal March 1994
Zooplankton grazing and growth: Scaling within the 2‐2,‐μm body size range journal June 1997
Biomass distribution in marine planktonic communities journal September 1997
Gross growth efficiencies of protozoan and metazoan zooplankton and their dependence on food concentration, predator-prey weight ratio, and taxonomic group journal September 1997
A dynamic regulatory model of phytoplanktonic acclimation to light, nutrients, and temperature journal June 1998
Photophysiology of the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus: Ecotypic differences among cultured isolates journal May 1999
Carbon to volume relationships for dinoflagellates, diatoms, and other protist plankton journal April 2000
Light absorption and size scaling of light‐limited metabolism in marine diatoms journal January 2001
Microbial size spectra from natural and nutrient enriched ecosystems journal June 2001
Utilization of different nitrogen sources by the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus journal July 2002
Elemental composition of marine Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus : Implications for the ecological stoichiometry of the sea journal September 2003
Phytoplankton growth, microzooplankton grazing, and carbon cycling in marine systems journal January 2004
Flexible elemental stoichiometry in Trichodesmium spp. and its ecological implications journal July 2006
A biodiversity‐inspired approach to aquatic ecosystem modeling journal July 2007
Scaling of phytoplankton photosynthesis and cell size in the ocean journal September 2007
Effects of phytoplankton community on production, size, and export of large aggregates: A world-ocean analysis journal August 2009
Environmental control of open-ocean phytoplankton groups: Now and in the future journal April 2010
Allometric scaling and taxonomic variation in nutrient utilization traits and maximum growth rate of phytoplankton journal March 2012
A size-structured food-web model for the global ocean journal November 2012
Zooplankton body composition journal September 2013
Data-based assessment of environmental controls on global marine nitrogen fixation journal January 2014
Drivers of trophic amplification of ocean productivity trends in a changing climate journal January 2014
Variable C : N : P stoichiometry of dissolved organic matter cycling in the Community Earth System Model journal January 2015
Capturing optically important constituents and properties in a marine biogeochemical and ecosystem model journal January 2015
Covariation of metabolic rates and cell size in coccolithophores journal August 2015
Global riverine N and P transport to ocean increased during the 20th century despite increased retention along the aquatic continuum journal January 2016
Twenty-first century ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and upper-ocean nutrient and primary production decline from CMIP6 model projections journal January 2020
Quantitative observation of cyanobacteria and diatoms from space using PhytoDOAS on SCIAMACHY data journal January 2009
Synoptic relationships between surface Chlorophyll-a and diagnostic pigments specific to phytoplankton functional types journal January 2011
A global diatom database – abundance, biovolume and biomass in the world ocean journal January 2012
MAREDAT: towards a world atlas of MARine Ecosystem DATa journal January 2013
Distribution of mesozooplankton biomass in the global ocean journal February 2013
MEDUSA-2.0: an intermediate complexity biogeochemical model of the marine carbon cycle for climate change and ocean acidification studies journal January 2013
PISCES-v2: an ocean biogeochemical model for carbon and ecosystem studies journal January 2015
Coupling global models for hydrology and nutrient loading to simulate nitrogen and phosphorus retention in surface water – description of IMAGE–GNM and analysis of performance journal January 2015


Similar Records

Linking planktonic biomass and metabolism to net gas fluxes in northern temperate lakes
Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1999 · Ecology · OSTI ID:355569

Model of carbon cycling in planktonic food webs
Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Journal of Environmental Engineering · OSTI ID:128828

Size distribution of planktonic autotrophy and microheterotrophy in DeGray and West Point reservoirs: a comparative study. Final report
Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985 · OSTI ID:6381859