Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems
John Steele (1926–2013) is remembered for his ecosystem modelling studies on the role of biological interactions and environment on the structure and function of marine ecosystems, including consequences for fish production and fisheries management. Here, we provide a scientific tribute to Steele fo...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:527070 2023-05-15T17:33:42+02:00 Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems Anderson, Thomas R Gentleman, Wendy C 2019-09-01 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527070/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527070/1/fbz042.pdf https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042 en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527070/1/fbz042.pdf Anderson, Thomas R orcid:0000-0002-7408-1566 Gentleman, Wendy C. 2019 Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Journal of Plankton Research, 41 (5). 609-620. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042 <https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042 2023-02-04T19:50:20Z John Steele (1926–2013) is remembered for his ecosystem modelling studies on the role of biological interactions and environment on the structure and function of marine ecosystems, including consequences for fish production and fisheries management. Here, we provide a scientific tribute to Steele focusing on, by means of example, his modelling of plankton predation [Steele and Henderson (1992) The role of predation in plankton models. J. Plankton Res., 14, 157–172] that showed that differences in ecosystem dynamics between the subarctic Pacific and North Atlantic oceans can be explained solely on the basis of zooplankton mortality. The study highlights Steele’s artistry in simplifying the system to a tractable minimal model while paying great attention to the precise functional forms used to parameterize mortality, grazing and other biological processes. The success of this and other works by Steele was in large part due to his effective communication with the rest of the scientific community (especially non-modellers) resulting from his enthusiasm, use of an experiment-like (hypothesis driven) approach to applying his models and by describing simplifications and assumptions in scrupulous detail. We also intend our contribution to remember Steele as the consummate gentleman, notably his humble, behind-the-scenes attitude, his humour and his dedication to enhancing the careers of others. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Subarctic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Pacific Steele ENVELOPE(-60.710,-60.710,-70.980,-70.980) Journal of Plankton Research 41 5 609 620 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
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English |
description |
John Steele (1926–2013) is remembered for his ecosystem modelling studies on the role of biological interactions and environment on the structure and function of marine ecosystems, including consequences for fish production and fisheries management. Here, we provide a scientific tribute to Steele focusing on, by means of example, his modelling of plankton predation [Steele and Henderson (1992) The role of predation in plankton models. J. Plankton Res., 14, 157–172] that showed that differences in ecosystem dynamics between the subarctic Pacific and North Atlantic oceans can be explained solely on the basis of zooplankton mortality. The study highlights Steele’s artistry in simplifying the system to a tractable minimal model while paying great attention to the precise functional forms used to parameterize mortality, grazing and other biological processes. The success of this and other works by Steele was in large part due to his effective communication with the rest of the scientific community (especially non-modellers) resulting from his enthusiasm, use of an experiment-like (hypothesis driven) approach to applying his models and by describing simplifications and assumptions in scrupulous detail. We also intend our contribution to remember Steele as the consummate gentleman, notably his humble, behind-the-scenes attitude, his humour and his dedication to enhancing the careers of others. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anderson, Thomas R Gentleman, Wendy C |
spellingShingle |
Anderson, Thomas R Gentleman, Wendy C Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
author_facet |
Anderson, Thomas R Gentleman, Wendy C |
author_sort |
Anderson, Thomas R |
title |
Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
title_short |
Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
title_full |
Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
title_sort |
remembering john steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527070/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527070/1/fbz042.pdf https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042 |
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ENVELOPE(-60.710,-60.710,-70.980,-70.980) |
geographic |
Pacific Steele |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Steele |
genre |
North Atlantic Subarctic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Subarctic |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527070/1/fbz042.pdf Anderson, Thomas R orcid:0000-0002-7408-1566 Gentleman, Wendy C. 2019 Remembering John Steele and his models for understanding the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Journal of Plankton Research, 41 (5). 609-620. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042 <https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbz042 |
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Journal of Plankton Research |
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41 |
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5 |
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609 |
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620 |
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1766132287347359744 |