PAOC Colloquium: Bess Ward (Princeton)
Title: Why diatoms are so successful in the ocean, and how to represent their strategies in ecosystem models
Abstract: Diatoms are often the winners in the race to acquire nutrients and accumulate biomass in the highest productivity ecosystems of the world ocean. This statement is almost a truism â everybody knows itâs true but itâs not always obvious why. I will report on my investigations into the winning ways of diatoms using field experiments, model simulations and molecular analysis of phytoplankton community composition. Accurate representation of phytoplankton functional groups in ecosystem models is improved by physiological knowledge of the species involved, but it turns out we still donât know very much about the most abundant species â the unknown unknowns of the phytoplankton world.
