1,721,190 research outputs found
The role of higher predation in plankton population models
No full textZooplankton mortality in plankton population models is often represented by the so-called closure term. Recently, much attention has been paid to the choice of functional form used for the closure term, primarily due to the influential paper by Steele and Henderson (J. Plankton Res., 14, 157–172, 1992). Here we reveal an inconsistency in the normalization of Steele and Henderson's models, and show that unforced short-term oscillations (limit cycles) can occur when a quadratic closure term is used. Furthermore, we contradict the hypothesis regarding the relationship between nutrient steady-state values and the choice of closure term: using the seven-component plankton model of Fasham (The Global Carbon Cycle, Heimann,M. (ed.), pp. 457–504, 1993) with four alternative closure terms, we find the nutrient value to depend more upon the choice of parameter values than on the choice of closure term. However, our results agree with and strengthen the general conclusion of Steele and Henderson's work: that the choice of closure term can strongly influence the dynamics of models
The role of diatoms in regulating the ocean's silicon cycle
No full textAmong phytoplankton the diatoms are strong competitors and contribute significantly to total global primary production. Aspects of their life history, notably their high sinking rates, make them important to the export flux of carbon into the ocean interior. Unlike the majority of other phytoplankton, they utilize silicic acid (=silicate) to construct their cell walls and are controlled by its availability and distribution. Here a simple model is developed to study the relationship between the diatoms and the ocean's silicon cycle. The ecological component of this model pits the slightly superior diatoms against all other algae, with both groups competing for phosphate while the diatoms additionally require silicic acid. The model agrees reasonably with observed distributions of nutrients and with their biogeochemical fluxes. While theoretically superior, the diatoms are held in check by the availability of silicic acid, allowing the persistence and numerical dominance of the other algae. The concentrations of both nutrients are homeostatically controlled by the phytoplankton, and resist perturbations. Analysis finds that primary production in the model is ultimately controlled by phosphate, with silicic acid abundance controlling the fraction of the total produced by diatoms. Sensitivity analyses using more ecologically detailed variants of the model find that these results are generally robust. The model's treatment of the “silica pump" hypothesis [Dugdale and Wilkerson, 1998] is also examined
Transient thermo-structural analysis of an insulated space structure
Full text linkThesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-99).by Yool A. Kim.M.S
MEDUSA-2.0: an intermediate complexity biogeochemical model of the marine carbon cycle for climate change and ocean acidification studies
Full text linkMEDUSA-1.0 (Model of Ecosystem Dynamics, nutrient Utilisation, Sequestration and Acidification) was developed as an "intermediate complexity" plankton ecosystem model to study the biogeochemical response, and especially that of the so-called "biological pump", to anthropogenically driven change in the World Ocean (Yool et al., 2011). The base currency in this model was nitrogen from which fluxes of organic carbon, including export to the deep ocean, were calculated by invoking fixed C:N ratios in phytoplankton, zooplankton and detritus. However, due to anthropogenic activity, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) has significantly increased above its natural, inter-glacial background. As such, simulating and predicting the carbon cycle in the ocean in its entirety, including ventilation of CO2 with the atmosphere and the resulting impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, requires that both organic and inorganic carbon be afforded a more complete representation in the model specification. Here, we introduce MEDUSA-2.0, an expanded successor model which includes additional state variables for dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen and detritus carbon (permitting variable C:N in exported organic matter), as well as a simple benthic formulation and extended parameterizations of phytoplankton growth, calcification and detritus remineralisation. A full description of MEDUSA-2.0, including its additional functionality, is provided and a multi-decadal spin-up simulation (1860–2005) is performed. The biogeochemical performance of the model is evaluated using a diverse range of observational data, and MEDUSA-2.0 is assessed relative to comparable models using output from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5)
Climate change and ocean acidification impacts on lower trophic levels and the export of organic carbon to the deep ocean
Full text linkMost future projections forecast significant and ongoing climate change during the 21st century, but with the severity of impacts dependent on efforts to restrain or reorganise human activity to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A major sink for atmospheric CO2, and a key source of biological resources, the World Ocean is widely anticipated to undergo profound physical and – via ocean acidification – chemical changes as direct and indirect results of these emissions. Given strong biophysical coupling, the marine biota is also expected to experience strong changes in response to this anthropogenic forcing. Here we examine the large-scale response of ocean biogeochemistry to climate and acidification impacts during the 21st century for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 2.6 and 8.5 using an intermediate complexity global ecosystem model, MEDUSA-2.0. The primary impact of future change lies in stratification-led declines in the availability of key nutrients in surface waters, which in turn leads to a global decrease (1990s vs. 2090s) in ocean productivity (?6.3%). This impact has knock-on consequences for the abundance of the low trophic level biogeochemical actors modelled by MEDUSA-2.0 (?5.8%), and these would be expected to similarly impact higher trophic level elements such as fisheries. Related impacts are found in the flux of organic material to seafloor communities (?40.7% at 1000 m), and in the volume of ocean suboxic zones (+12.5%). A sensitivity analysis removing an acidification feedback on calcification finds that change in this process significantly impacts benthic communities, suggesting that a~better understanding of the OA-sensitivity of calcifying organisms, and their role in ballasting sinking organic carbon, may significantly improve forecasting of these ecosystems. For all processes, there is geographical variability in change – for instance, productivity declines ?21% in the Atlantic and increases +59% in the Arctic – and changes are much more pronounced under RCP 8.5 than the RCP 2.6 scenario
Future change in ocean productivity: Is the Arctic the new Atlantic?
Full text linkOne of the most characteristic features in ocean productivity is the North Atlantic spring bloom. Responding to seasonal increases in irradiance and stratification, surface phytopopulations rise significantly, a pattern that visibly tracks poleward into summer. While blooms also occur in the Arctic Ocean, they are constrained by the sea-ice and strong vertical stratification that characterize this region. However, Arctic sea-ice is currently declining, and forecasts suggest this may lead to completely ice-free summers by the mid-21st century. Such change may open the Arctic up to Atlantic-style spring blooms, and do so at the same time as Atlantic productivity is threatened by climate change-driven ocean stratification. Here we use low and high-resolution instances of a coupled ocean-biogeochemistry model, NEMO-MEDUSA, to investigate productivity. Drivers of present-day patterns are identified, and changes in these across a climate change scenario (IPCC RCP 8.5) are analyzed. We find a globally significant decline in North Atlantic productivity (> ?20%) by 2100, and a correspondingly significant rise in the Arctic (> +50%). However, rather than the future Arctic coming to resemble the current Atlantic, both regions are instead transitioning to a common, low nutrient regime. The North Pacific provides a counterexample where nutrients remain high and productivity increases with elevated temperature. These responses to climate change in the Atlantic and Arctic are common between model resolutions, suggesting an independence from resolution for key impacts. However, some responses, such as those in the North Pacific, differ between the simulations, suggesting the reverse and supporting the drive to more fine-scale resolutions
Novel roles for aquaporins as gated ion channels
No full textAlternative citation: Yool, A. and Stamer, W. 2004, ‘Novel roles for aquaporins as gated ion channels’, in Maue, R.A. (ed.), Molecular insights into ion channel biology in health and disease, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 351-379. ISBN 9780444506450Abstract not availableAndrea J. Yool and W. Daniel Stame
Incorporation of the C-GOLDSTEIN efficient climate model into the GENIE framework: "eb_go_gs" configurations of GENIE
Full text linkA computationally efficient, intermediate complexity ocean-atmosphere-sea ice model (C-GOLDSTEIN) has been incorporated into the Grid ENabled Integrated Earth system modelling (GENIE) framework. This involved decoupling of the three component modules that were re-coupled in a modular way, to allow replacement with alternatives and coupling of further components within the framework. The climate model described here (referred to as "eb_go_gs" for short) is the most basic version of GENIE in which atmosphere, ocean and sea ice all play an active role. Among improvements on the original C-GOLDSTEIN model, latitudinal grid resolution is generalized to allow a wider range of surface grids to be used. The ocean, atmosphere and sea-ice components of the "eb_go_gs" configuration of GENIE are individually described, along with details of their coupling. The setup and results from simulations using four different meshes are presented. The four alternative meshes comprise the widely-used 36 × 36 equal-area-partitioning of the Earth surface with 16 depth layers in the ocean, a version in which horizontal and vertical resolution are doubled, a setup matching the horizontal resolution of the dynamic atmospheric component available in the GENIE framework, and a setup with enhanced resolution in high-latitude areas. Results are presented for a spin-up experiment with a baseline parameter set and wind forcing typically used for current studies in which "eb_go_gs" is coupled with the ocean biogeochemistry module of GENIE, as well as for an experiment with a modified parameter set, revised wind forcing, and additional cross-basin transport pathways (Indonesian and Bering Strait throughflows). The latter experiment is repeated with the four mesh variants, with common parameter settings throughout, except for time-step length. Selected state variables and diagnostics are compared in two regards: (i) between simulations at lowest resolution that are obtained with the baseline and modified configurations, predominantly in order to evaluate the revision of the wind forcing, the modification of some key parameters, and the effect of additional transport pathways across the Arctic Ocean and the Indonesian Archipelago; (ii) between simulations with the four meshes, in order to explore various effects of mesh choice.<br/
Role of advection in Arctic Ocean lower trophic dynamics: a modelling perspective
Full text linkThe Arctic Ocean (AO) is an oligotrophic system with a pronounced subsurface Chl-a maximum dominating productivity over the majority of the basin. Strong haline stratification of the AO and substantial ice cover suppress vertical mixing and restrict the vertical supply of nutrients to the photic zone. In such a vertically stratified oligotrophic system, the horizontal supply of nutrients by advection plays an important role in sustaining primary production. In this paper we attempt to characterise the role of nutrient advection in the maintenance of the subsurface Chl-a maximum, using time scales to determine the connectivity between the photic zone of the deep Arctic Ocean, nutrient-rich Pacific and Atlantic inflow waters, and bottom waters of the wide continental shelves of the AO.
Our study uses output from a general circulation model, NEMO, coupled to a model of ocean biogeochemistry, MEDUSA. A Lagrangian particle tracking approach is used to back-track water from where it forms subsurface Chl-a maxima to the points of entry into the AO and to analyse nutrient transformation along the route.
Our experiments show that advective timescales linking subsurface layers of the central AO with the nutrient rich Pacific and Atlantic waters do not exceed 15-20 years, and that the advective supply of shelf nutrients to the deep AO occurs on the timescale of about 5 years. We show substantial role of the continental shelf pump in sustaining up to 20% of total AO primary production
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