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Published VersionCC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Assessment and Constraint of Mesozooplankton in CMIP6 Earth System Models
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol.36(11), pp.1-25
2022
Abstract
Although zooplankton play a substantial role in the biological carbon pump and serve as a crucial link between primary producers and higher trophic level consumers, the skillful representation of zooplankton is not often a focus of ocean biogeochemical models. Systematic evaluations of zooplankton in models could improve their representation, but so far, ocean biogeochemical skill assessment of Earth system model (ESM) ensembles have not included zooplankton. Here we use a recently developed global, observationally based map of mesozooplankton biomass to assess the skill of mesozooplankton in six CMIP6 ESMs. We also employ a biome-based assessment of the ability of these models to reproduce the observed relationship between mesozooplankton biomass and surface chlorophyll. The combined analysis found that most models were able to reasonably simulate the large regional variations in mesozooplankton biomass at the global scale. Additionally, three of the ESMs simulated a mesozooplankton-chlorophyll relationship within the observational bounds, which we used as an emergent constraint on future mesozooplankton projections. We highlight where differences in model structure and parameters may give rise to varied mesozooplankton distributions under historic and future conditions, and the resultant wide ensemble spread in projected changes in mesozooplankton biomass. Despite differences, the strength of the mesozooplankton-chlorophyll relationships across all models was related to the projected changes in mesozooplankton biomass globally and in regional biomes. These results suggest that improved observations of mesozooplankton and their relationship to chlorophyll will better constrain projections of climate change impacts on these important animals.
Details
- Title
- Assessment and Constraint of Mesozooplankton in CMIP6 Earth System Models
- Authors
- C. M. Petrik (Corresponding Author) - Texas A&M UniversityJ. Y. Luo (Author) - NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics LaboratoryR. F. Heneghan (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyJ. D. Everett (Author) - The University of QueenslandC. S. Harrison (Author) - Louisiana State UniversityA. J. Richardson (Author) - The University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol.36(11), pp.1-25
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
- Date published
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.1029/2022GB007367
- ISSN
- 1944-9224; 0886-6236
- Grant note
- NA20OAR4310441, NA20OAR4310442 / NOAA; National Oceanic Atmospheric Admin (NOAA) - USA; 2021686 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF); 2021686 / Division Of Earth Sciences; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Geosciences (GEO)
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99744889302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Domestic collaboration
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- Environmental Sciences
- Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
- Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
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