ERSEM 15.06: a generic model for marine biogeochemistry and the ecosystem dynamics of the lower trophic levels

Abstract. The ERSEM model is one of the most established ecosystem models for the lower trophic levels of the marine food-web in the scientific literature. Since its original development in the early nineties it has evolved significantly from a coastal ecosystem model for the North-Sea to a generic tool for ecosystem simulations from shelf seas to the global ocean. The current model release contains all essential elements for the pelagic and benthic part of the marine ecosystem, including the microbial food-web, the carbonate system and calcification. Its distribution is accompanied by a testing framework enabling the analysis of individual parts of the model. Here we provide a detailed mathematical description of all ERSEM components along with case-studies of mesocosm type simulations, water column implementations and a brief example of a full-scale application for the North-West European shelf. Validation against in situ data demonstrates the capability of the model to represent the marine ecosystem in contrasting environments.

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ERSEM 15.06: a generic model for marine biogeochemistry and the ecosystem dynamics of the lower trophic levels

Geoscientific Model Development ◽

10.5194/gmd-9-1293-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 1293-1339 ◽

Cited By ~ 96

Author(s):

Momme Butenschön ◽

James Clark ◽

John N. Aldridge ◽

Julian Icarus Allen ◽

Yuri Artioli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Web ◽

Current Model ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Ecosystem Model ◽

Essential Elements ◽

Ecosystem Dynamics ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Global Ocean ◽

Generic Model ◽

The North

Abstract. The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) is one of the most established ecosystem models for the lower trophic levels of the marine food web in the scientific literature. Since its original development in the early nineties it has evolved significantly from a coastal ecosystem model for the North Sea to a generic tool for ecosystem simulations from shelf seas to the global ocean. The current model release contains all essential elements for the pelagic and benthic parts of the marine ecosystem, including the microbial food web, the carbonate system, and calcification. Its distribution is accompanied by a testing framework enabling the analysis of individual parts of the model. Here we provide a detailed mathematical description of all ERSEM components along with case studies of mesocosm-type simulations, water column implementations, and a brief example of a full-scale application for the north-western European shelf. Validation against in situ data demonstrates the capability of the model to represent the marine ecosystem in contrasting environments.

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On the robustness of an eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem exposed to multiple stressors

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-81549-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ndague Diogoul ◽

Patrice Brehmer ◽

Hervé Demarcq ◽

Salaheddine El Ayoubi ◽

Abou Thiam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Stressors ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Relative Index ◽

Upwelling System ◽

The North ◽

Latitudinal Shift ◽

Large Marine Ecosystem ◽

North And South

AbstractThe resistance of an east border upwelling system was investigated using relative index of marine pelagic biomass estimates under a changing environment spanning 20-years in the strongly exploited southern Canary Current Large marine Ecosystem (sCCLME). We divided the sCCLME in two parts (north and south of Cap Blanc), based on oceanographic regimes. We delineated two size-based groups (“plankton” and “pelagic fish”) corresponding to lower and higher trophic levels, respectively. Over the 20-year period, all spatial remote sensing environmental variables increased significantly, except in the area south of Cap Blanc where sea surface Chlorophyll-a concentrations declined and the upwelling favorable wind was stable. Relative index of marine pelagic abundance was higher in the south area compared to the north area of Cap Blanc. No significant latitudinal shift to the mass center was detected, regardless of trophic level. Relative pelagic abundance did not change, suggesting sCCLME pelagic organisms were able to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Despite strong annual variability and the presence of major stressors (overfishing, climate change), the marine pelagic ressources, mainly fish and plankton remained relatively stable over the two decades, advancing our understanding on the resistance of this east border upwelling system.

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Towards an integrated forecasting system for fisheries on habitat-bound stocks

Ocean Science ◽

10.5194/os-9-261-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 261-279 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

A. Christensen ◽

M. Butenschön ◽

Z. Gürkan ◽

I. J. Allen

Keyword(s):

Climatic Variability ◽

Maximum Sustainable Yield ◽

Ecosystem Dynamics ◽

Fish Stock ◽

Generic Model ◽

Sustainable Yield ◽

Model Framework ◽

The North ◽

Basin Scale ◽

Forecasting System

Abstract. First results of a coupled modelling and forecasting system for fisheries on habitat-bound stocks are being presented. The system consists currently of three mathematically, fundamentally different model subsystems coupled offline: POLCOMS providing the physical environment implemented in the domain of the north-west European shelf, the SPAM model which describes sandeel stocks in the North Sea, and the third component, the SLAM model, which connects POLCOMS and SPAM by computing the physical–biological interaction. Our major experience by the coupling model subsystems is that well-defined and generic model interfaces are very important for a successful and extendable coupled model framework. The integrated approach, simulating ecosystem dynamics from physics to fish, allows for analysis of the pathways in the ecosystem to investigate the propagation of changes in the ocean climate and to quantify the impacts on the higher trophic level, in this case the sandeel population, demonstrated here on the basis of hindcast data. The coupled forecasting system is tested for some typical scientific questions appearing in spatial fish stock management and marine spatial planning, including determination of local and basin-scale maximum sustainable yield, stock connectivity and source/sink structure. Our presented simulations indicate that sandeel stocks are currently exploited close to the maximum sustainable yield, even though periodic overfishing seems to have occurred, but large uncertainty is associated with determining stock maximum sustainable yield due to stock inherent dynamics and climatic variability. Our statistical ensemble simulations indicates that the predictive horizon set by climate interannual variability is 2–6 yr, after which only an asymptotic probability distribution of stock properties, like biomass, are predictable.

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Quantifying the influence of CO<sub>2</sub> seasonality on future ocean acidification

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-12-5907-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 5907-5940

Author(s):

T. P. Sasse ◽

B. I. McNeil ◽

R. J. Matear ◽

A. Lenton

Keyword(s):

Ocean Acidification ◽

North Pacific ◽

Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Global Ocean ◽

Saturation State ◽

The North ◽

Data Limitations ◽

The Future ◽

The North Pacific

Abstract. Ocean acidification is a predictable consequence of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), and is highly likely to impact the entire marine ecosystem – from plankton at the base to fish at the top. Factors which are expected to be impacted include reproductive health, organism growth and species composition and distribution. Predicting when critical threshold values will be reached is crucial for projecting the future health of marine ecosystems and for marine resources planning and management. The impacts of ocean acidification will be first felt at the seasonal scale, however our understanding how seasonal variability will influence rates of future ocean acidification remains poorly constrained due to current model and data limitations. To address this issue, we first quantified the seasonal cycle of aragonite saturation state utilizing new data-based estimates of global ocean surface dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity. This seasonality was then combined with earth system model projections under different emissions scenarios (RCPs 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) to provide new insights into future aragonite under-saturation onset. Under a high emissions scenario (RCP 8.5), our results suggest accounting for seasonality will bring forward the initial onset of month-long under-saturation by 17 years compared to annual-mean estimates, with differences extending up to 35 ± 17 years in the North Pacific due to strong regional seasonality. Our results also show large-scale under-saturation once atmospheric CO2 reaches 486 ppm in the North Pacific and 511 ppm in the Southern Ocean independent of emission scenario. Our results suggest that accounting for seasonality is critical to projecting the future impacts of ocean acidification on the marine environment.

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Numerical modelling of the benthic-pelagic coupling in coastal marine ecosystems at contrasting sites

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13130 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Carolina Amadio ◽

Marco Zavatarelli ◽

Tomas Lovato ◽

Momme Butenschoen

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Inorganic Compounds ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Ecosystem Dynamics ◽

Shortwave Radiation ◽

Global Ocean ◽

In Situ Data ◽

Benthic Pelagic Coupling ◽

Diffusive Fluxes ◽

St Helena

<p>Continental shelves cover less than 5% of the global ocean surface, but play a crucial role in the marine global biogeochemical cycling. Coastal ecosystem dynamics are governed and constrained to a wide extent by the biogeochemical processes occurring in the benthic domain. Such processes define the so called benthic-pelagic coupling (hereafter BPC), i.e. two-way exchange of organic matter (particulate and dissolved) and inorganic compounds. The physically mediated exchanges structuring the BPC are constituted by the sinking and resuspension fluxes of particulate organic matter and by the diffusion of inorganic nutrients. Despite its importance and the continuous enhancement of model resolution, the BPC in global marine ecosystem models is generally roughly approximated. Moreover, observational data focusing on the BPC dynamics are fairly scanty in time and space, thereby hampering model parameterization and validation. The main objectives of this study are to develop and test a numerical model addressing BPC processes and to evaluate ecosystem dynamics in marine areas with different climatic and ecological characteristics. In particular, we here focused on two key interaction processes: the sinking velocity of particulate matter and the diffusive fluxes of inorganic dissolved nutrients at the benthic-pelagic interface. The benthic sub-model has been calibrated accounting for the complex pelagic food web and for the main ecological and physical characteristics of continental shelf areas in different sites: Gulf of Trieste (Italy), St. Helena Bay (South Africa), Svinoy Fyr (Norway). At each study area, the one-dimensional coupled BFM-NEMO modelling system was setup by prescribing temperature and salinity vertical profiles in NEMO, while the shortwave radiation acts as a primary forcing of BFM. Model results have been validated with available in situ data.</p><p>Sensitivity tests has been performed to investigate the role of the BPC exchanges in determining the pelagic biogeochemical cycles and to carry out a comparative analysis accounting for each site characteristics.</p>

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Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts from European seas: source of potentially economic cobalt mining.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-22091 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Egidio Marino ◽

Javier González ◽

Teresa Medialdea ◽

Luis Somoza ◽

Rosario Lunar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lithium Ion ◽

Essential Elements ◽

Raw Material ◽

The Arctic ◽

World Production ◽

Critical Metals ◽

North West ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

The World

<p>The world increasing demand of electric vehicles (EVs) that use lithium-ion batteries (LIB), in which cobalt is one of the essential elements, focused the attention on its demand that is calculated will increase of 7-13% annually until 2030. The actual production of cobalt, usually extract as by-product of nickel and copper mine, is reduced to almost 20 countries between which the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the bigger producer with 55% of the world production. In Europe cobalt is produced only in Finland that actually provides 2.300 tonnes, the 2% of the world production. In this way several projects have been promoted by European Union, with the Raw Material Initiative, in order to find and evaluate the sustainable production of important materials in Europe.</p><p>MINDeSEA[1] project is part of the GeoERA and represent the collaboration of 12 national geological institution partners, to characterize marine deposits and their contents in Critical Raw Materials (CRM) and to generate a comprehensive cartography and metallogenic models of them. The first preliminary map produced in 2019 represents the localization and evaluation of cobalt rich deposits in the oceans within the EEZ and ECS of the European countries. &#160;Cobalt deposits are represented essentially by hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts located essentially in the Macaronesian area of the north east Atlantic Ocean (in the Portugal and Spain), submarine plateaus, as the Galicia Bank (in the north west Spanish) and in the Arctic Ocean ridges (Norway and Iceland). The report differentiates between occurrences (<0.05 wt. %) and deposits (>0.05 wt. %), with the possibility of more than 200 Mt resources per potential deposit.</p><p>Detailed mineralogical, geochemical and metallogenic studies are being developed in crusts from the Macaronesia. Fe-Mn crusts absorb dissolved elements in seawaters on the surface of the fresh precipitated oxy-hydroxides during their slow growth through millions of years. Several elements are concentrated in Fe-Mn crusts and between them cobalt is one of the most enriched trace metals (average 0.6 wt. %) accompanied by other strategic and critical metals such as nickel, copper, tellurium, molybdenum and rare earth elements plus yttrium (REY) (respectively 3000, 500, 150, 500 and 3500 &#181;g/g). Micro Raman and micro X-Ray diffraction can be used to differentiate the mineralogy in laminae of less than 20 microns. On the other hand, electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), are useful in order to quantify contents of CRM in the different mineral phases. These are innovative techniques in order to identify critical-elements bearing minerals and thus choose the metallurgic method for a more efficient and sustainable extraction of the interesting elements.</p><p>The evaluation of a seamount as a future mine site has to take into account all these mineralogical and chemical features as well as a proper knowledge of the seamount (morpho-structure, geology, oceanography, ecosystems) and the Fe-Mn crust thickness and extension</p><div><br><div> <p>[1] This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166</p> </div> </div>

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Effects of environmental variability on different trophic levels of the North Atlantic food web

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps10180 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 477 ◽

pp. 15-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

VH Paiva ◽

P Geraldes ◽

V Marques ◽

R Rodríguez ◽

S Garthe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Web ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Environmental Variability ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

The North ◽

The North Atlantic

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Distribution of known macrozooplankton abundance and biomass in the global ocean

Earth System Science Data ◽

10.5194/essd-5-241-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 241-257 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

R. Moriarty ◽

E. T. Buitenhuis ◽

C. Le Quéré ◽

M.-P. Gosselin

Keyword(s):

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Deep Ocean ◽

Distribution Patterns ◽

Data Depth ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Global Ocean ◽

Abundance Data ◽

Carbon Biomass ◽

Lack Of Information ◽

Species Specific

Abstract. Macrozooplankton are an important link between higher and lower trophic levels in the oceans. They serve as the primary food for fish, reptiles, birds and mammals in some regions, and play a role in the export of carbon from the surface to the intermediate and deep ocean. Little, however, is known of their global distribution and biomass. Here we compiled a dataset of macrozooplankton abundance and biomass observations for the global ocean from a collection of four datasets. We harmonise the data to common units, calculate additional carbon biomass where possible, and bin the dataset in a global 1 × 1 degree grid. This dataset is part of a wider effort to provide a global picture of carbon biomass data for key plankton functional types, in particular to support the development of marine ecosystem models. Over 387 700 abundance data and 1330 carbon biomass data have been collected from pre-existing datasets. A further 34 938 abundance data were converted to carbon biomass data using species-specific length frequencies or using species-specific abundance to carbon biomass data. Depth-integrated values are used to calculate known epipelagic macrozooplankton biomass concentrations and global biomass. Global macrozooplankton biomass, to a depth of 350 m, has a mean of 8.4 μg C L−1, median of 0.2 μg C L−1 and a standard deviation of 63.5 μg C L−1. The global annual average estimate of macrozooplankton biomass in the top 350 m, based on the median value, is 0.02 Pg C. There are, however, limitations on the dataset; abundance observations have good coverage except in the South Pacific mid-latitudes, but biomass observation coverage is only good at high latitudes. Biomass is restricted to data that is originally given in carbon or to data that can be converted from abundance to carbon. Carbon conversions from abundance are restricted by the lack of information on the size of the organism and/or the absence of taxonomic information. Distribution patterns of global macrozooplankton biomass and statistical information about biomass concentrations may be used to validate biogeochemical and plankton functional type models. Macrozooplankton abundance and biomass dataset doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.777398.

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