On Tuesday, September 17 we resume the lecture series Café con Sal. On this occasion it will be Jose González, head of the Oceanography Unit at ECIMAT, who will present to us, with the lecture “Assessing the effect of oil spills on the dynamics of plankton community using a model”, how predictive trophic models can be used as a simple tool to interpret variables not measured empirically in a marine ecosystem.
Modeling in marine ecology is widely used for predictive purposes, but it can also be used alternatively, as an interpretative tool to understand the processes involved in determining the structure and dynamics of the food chain. In this sense, models can be used to reproduce measured variables, which gives us important clues to determine which unmeasured parameters need to be adjusted to reproduce the observations. Therefore, we can use modeling to determine differences between communities or to detect possible effects of nutrient and/or toxin input in a given community, even on unmeasured parameters.
José González will present in his lecture the use of a simple model, the NPDZ model (Nutrients- Phytoplankton- Detritus- Zooplankton), to interpret the results of the mesocosm experiments carried out during the IMPRESIÓN project in the Ría de Vigo, as an example of the interpretative application of predictive models. During the lecture, Jose will explain the results of the experiments conducted, demonstrating that modeling is a powerful tool to explain differences in community dynamics among 4 different marine microbial communities, which also allows for the detection of subtle toxic effects, not always detected through direct interpretation of empirical data.
The lecture will take place at 11.00h in the ECIMAT auditorium and will be broadcast live at http://tv.uvigo.es/es/directo/1.html, later being available on UVigoTV and on our website.
