Dr. Mick Follows to speak in the EAPS-PAOC Sack Lunch Seminar Series.
Abstract: We explore the relationship between marine phytoplankton community composition and their nutrient environment in a model of the global oceans. The model represents many tens of potentially viable phytoplankton species and explicit "survival of the fittest" organizes the ecosystem. We use this as a platform to examine the utility of resource competition theory, an established conceptual tool in ecology, to qualitatively and quantitatively describe a relatively
complex marine ecosystem. We will also comment on the underlying foundations of marine ecosystem models.