Emergent Biogeography of Microbial Communities in a Model Ocean

A marine ecosystem model seeded with many phytoplankton types, whose physiological traits were randomly assigned from ranges defined by field and laboratory data, generated an emergent community structure and biogeography consistent with observed global phytoplankton distributions. The modeled organ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2007-03, Vol.315 (5820), p.1843-1846
Main Authors: Follows, Michael J, Dutkiewicz, Stephanie, Grant, Scott, Chisholm, Sallie W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biogeography
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Climate change
Community structure
Computer Simulation
Cyanobacteria
Cyanophyta
Ecological modeling
Ecosystem
Ecosystem models
Ecosystems
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geography
Light
Marine ecology
Marine ecosystems
Mathematics
Microorganisms
Models, Biological
Nitrates
Oceans
Oceans and Seas
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton - growth & development
Phytoplankton - physiology
Plankton
Prochlorococcus
Prochlorococcus - growth & development
Prochlorococcus - physiology
Sea water ecosystems
Seawater - microbiology
Synecology
Temperature
Terrestrial ecosystems
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A marine ecosystem model seeded with many phytoplankton types, whose physiological traits were randomly assigned from ranges defined by field and laboratory data, generated an emergent community structure and biogeography consistent with observed global phytoplankton distributions. The modeled organisms included types analogous to the marine cyanobacterium PROCHLOROCOCCUS: Their emergent global distributions and physiological properties simultaneously correspond to observations. This flexible representation of community structure can be used to explore relations between ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, and climate change.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1138544