Characterizing marine habitats and their changes using satellite products and numerical models

Stephanie Dutkiewicz, MIT, stephd@ocean.mit.edu (Presenter)
Maria T Kavanaugh, Woods Hole, mkavanaugh@whoi.edu
Tim Moore, University of New Hampshire, timothy.moore@unh.edu
Colleen Mouw, Michigan Tech, cbmouw@mtu.edu
Barbara Muhling, NOAA, barbara.muhling@noaa.gov
Matthew Oliver, University of Delaware, moliver@udel.edu
Cecile S. Rousseaux, GMAO/USRA, cecile.s.rousseaux@nasa.gov
Tihomir Kostadinov, University of Richmond, kostadinov.t@gmail.com

Marine habitats are likely to be altered substantially in the future, impacting ocean biogeochemistry and fisheries. Yet direct observations of habitats and their changes remain sparse. This talk synthesizes novel work to characterize marine habitats from satellite products and numerical models. The focus is on phytoplankton, but will include examples from higher trophic levels in the marine food web. Phytoplankton are key organisms, forming the base of the marine foodweb and playing crucial roles in biogeochemical cycles, including storing carbon deep in the ocean. Phytoplankton are extremely diverse, having different biofunctional roles in the global biogeochemical cycles ('phytoplankton functional types'), and with species spanning many orders of magnitude in size. Though few specific species can be identified from satellite products, there is substantial work to explore biogeography of grouping of phytoplankton species in both size and functional types, particularly from ocean colour. Additional satellite products (e.g. sea surface temperature) along with statistical techniques help categorize the global ocean into biogeographical 'provinces', or biomes, as well as to delineate habitats of higher trophic levels (e.g. fish, penguins). The habitats defined in these novel ways can be used to explore changes on seasonal and interannual timescales. Though these satellite products can be used to investigate trends, studies have suggested that timeseries are currently too short to appropriately distinguish long term trends (including anthropogenic driven climate change signals) from noise variance (including natural variability). Large scale numerical models on the other hand can help us not only explore natural seasonal and interannual (e.g. ENSO) variations in habitats, but also potential long term future changes. Global scale models show some robust signals of phytoplankton habitat changes over the course of the 21st Century. Output from climate models (e.g. changes in sea surface temperature) can be used to predict changes in habitats, for instance for fish species. This talk will conclude by showing how numerical models can differentiate between some of the many drivers of climate change (warming, changes in light and nutrient environments, and ocean acidification) and how these may affect marine habitats.

Presentation: 2015_Apr20_AM_Dutkiewicz_23.pptx (11515k)

Presentation Type:  Plenary Talk

Session:  Theme 1: Tracking habitat change through new integrative approaches and products

Presentation Time:  Mon 11:24 AM  (18 minutes)