Challenges in integrative approaches to modelling the marine ecosystems of the North Atlantic: Physics to fish and coasts to ocean

• Published in: Progress in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Holt, Jason, Allen, J. Icarus, Anderson, Thomas R., Brewin, Robert, Butenschön, Momme, Harle, James, Huse, Geir, Lehodey, Patrick, Lindemann, Christian, Mémery, Laurent, Salihoglu, Baris, Senina, I., Yool, A
• Other Authors: National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Marine Ecosystems Modeling and Monitoring by Satellites (MEMMS), CLS, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO), Institute of Marine Sciences Erdemli-Mersin (IMS), Middle East Technical University Ankara (METU), European Project: 264933,EC:FP7:ENV,FP7-ENV-2010,EURO-BASIN(2010)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: SARGASSO SEA; CIRCULATION MODELS; NORWEGIAN SEA; ACL; EUROPEAN CONTINENTAL-SHELF; DISSOLVED ORGANIC-CARBON; STRUCTURED ENERGY-FLOW; TO-END MODELS; CALANUS-FINMARCHICUS; PART I; DATA ASSIMILATION; envir; geo; Norwegian Sea; Calanus finmarchicus; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2014.04.024; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02549370

International audience It has long been recognised that there are strong interactions and feedbacks between climate, upper ocean biogeochemistry and marine food webs, and also that food web structure and phytoplankton community distribution are important determinants of variability in carbon production and export from the euphotic zone. Numerical models provide a vital tool to explore these interactions, given their capability to investigate multiple connected components of the system and the sensitivity to multiple drivers, including potential future conditions. A major driver for ecosystem model development is the demand for quantitative tools to support ecosystem-based management initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to review approaches to the modelling of marine ecosystems with a focus on the North Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent shelf seas, and to highlight the challenges they face and suggest ways forward. We consider the state of the art in simulating oceans and shelf sea physics, planktonic and higher trophic level ecosystems, and look towards building an integrative approach with these existing tools. We note how the different approaches have evolved historically and that many of the previous obstacles to harmonisation may no longer be present. We illustrate this with examples from the on-going and planned modelling effort in the Integrative Modelling Work Package of the EURO-BASIN programme.