Simulating Plankton- Getting it Right in the Era of Digital Twins of the Ocean; Simplicity vs. Complexity

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2024

DOI

10.5281/zenodo.11030531

Pages

1-43

Abstract

This work describes the outcomes from a project funded by the NERC (UK) during 2023, with the overarching aim of facilitating the construction of the next generation of plankton simulation models by engaging with experts in real plankton physiology and ecology. Over 30 experts, covering plankton from viruses to krill, contributed to various facets of the project. They were selected specifically for their empirical interests; modellers per se were not included.

Ten experts in empirical plankton science contributed to configuring aspirational plankton digital twins (PDT) of different levels of complexity, with emphasis on the required number of state variables. Those state variables could be allocated to any combination of abiotic and biotic components (invariably with units of mass m-3). The contributions were divided between those centred on the microbial loop, phototrophy, or on consumers. Most included multiple plankton functional groups, though two of the nine projects were essentially autecological models (single bacteria type using a complex description of DOM, or centred on phytoplankton phototrophy).

Rights

© 2025 The Authors.

Published under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Original Publication Citation

Flynn, K., Sherr, E., Atkinson, A., Lønborg, C., Mullholland, M., Rokitta, S., Rost, B. C., Schmidt, K., Stoecker, D., Thiele, S., & Thingstad, T. F. (2024). Simulating plankton-getting it right in the era of Digital Twins of the Ocean; simplicity vs complexity. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11030531

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