Evaluating the environmental drivers of iron limitation in marine primary producers at a global scale using an adaptive plankton ecology model

durch Ben Perrett (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel)

Mittwoch 23.09.2026, 13:15 → 14:30 Europe/Berlin

5-1.214 - ATLANTIK / ATLANTIC - Linke Seite – Großer, unterteilbarer Konferenzraum (GEOMAR - Standort Ostufer / GEOMAR - East Shore)

Abstract:

Low levels of dissolved iron across the surface ocean limit primary productivity across approximately a third of the ocean. Models are a useful tool to quantify how processes across the global ocean drive the iron cycling and bioavailability and thereby regulate the extent and distribution of marine primary productivity. While most models account for atmospheric, sedimentary, and hydrothermal sources of dissolved iron and variable solubility, the interplay with marine primary producers in the surface ocean is insufficiently represented. To address this, we have developed a new dissolved iron model which explicitly considers the role of primary producers in regulating dissolved iron distributions by modelling adaptive plankton ecosystems using a variable stoichiometry optimality-based plankton ecosystem model. This model provides a new framework for assessing the global marine iron cycle, the interplay with marine ecology, and the biogeochemical processes regulating marine primary productivity.

Meeting-Link:
https://geomar.webex.com/geomar/j.php?MTID=md937eba167cd3b2e3369e55c3113828b