Trait-based Marine Ecosystem Models

Biodiversity is the end point of a cascade of interactions propagating from individuals� life histories, behaviours and interactions with the environment they inhabit. Biodiversity and ecosystem structure are variables, not rigid parameters, and are predictions from - not input into - ecosystem models.

We have contributed to trait-based approaches in the marine oceanography community - in nutrient uptake in microbes, in the conceptual idea of how traits emerge in a trade-off between conflicting use of resources, and in the behavioural strategies of fish and zooplankton.

In 2017, we hosted the 'Third workshop on trait-based approaches in ocean science' - where 120 scientists from 31 different nations met over four days to discuss the topic - see here.