CaNDyFloSS: Carbon and Nutrient Dynamics and Fluxes over Shelf Systems
Lead Research Organisation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Department Name: Plymouth Marine Lab
Organisations
Publications
Aldridge JN
(2017)
Comparing benthic biogeochemistry at a sandy and a muddy site in the Celtic Sea using a model and observations.
in Biogeochemistry
Atkinson A
(2018)
Comment. What drives plankton seasonality in a stratifying shelf sea? Some competing and complementary theories
in Limnology and Oceanography
Bakker D
(2016)
A multi-decade record of high-quality <i>f</i>CO<sub>2</sub> data in version 3 of the Surface Ocean CO<sub>2</sub> Atlas (SOCAT)
in Earth System Science Data
Birchill A
(2017)
Seasonal iron depletion in temperate shelf seas
in Geophysical Research Letters
Brewin R
(2017)
Evaluating operational AVHRR sea surface temperature data at the coastline using surfers
in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Carr N
(2019)
Seasonal and spatial variability in the optical characteristics of DOM in a temperate shelf sea
in Progress in Oceanography
Davis C
(2019)
Diurnal variability in alkaline phosphatase activity and the potential role of zooplankton
in Limnology and Oceanography Letters
Davis C
(2019)
Seasonal organic matter dynamics in a temperate shelf sea
in Progress in Oceanography
Djeghri N
(2018)
High prey-predator size ratios and unselective feeding in copepods: A seasonal comparison of five species with contrasting feeding modes
in Progress in Oceanography
García-Martín E
(2019)
Seasonal changes in plankton respiration and bacterial metabolism in a temperate shelf sea
in Progress in Oceanography
| Description | The outputs of this project are now summarised in a special issue publication of Progress in Oceanography. The abstract of the summary paper reviews this work thus: The project aimed to address two issues: (1) how does a temperate shelf sea sustain an annual net drawdown and export of atmospheric CO2 without running out of inorganic nutrients, and (2) what uncertainties in processes or parameterisations within current ecosystem models can be reduced by a coordinated, multi-disciplinary observational programme covering the full seasonal cycle? Working with partners across Europe, the net annual drawdown of atmospheric CO2 over the entire northwest European shelf was confirmed. This demonstrated the context and impetus for a 17-month process study in the Celtic Sea, using a long-term mooring array and several research cruises, addressing shelf sea physics, inorganic and organic nutrient and carbon cycling, and bacterial, phytoplankton and zooplankton roles and dynamics. It was clear from the physics that all the carbon absorbed through the sea surface over one year was not exported to the open ocean. Physical transports were too weak and too slow to transport all the carbon-laden water over a wide shelf sea to the shelf edge within one year. The shelf sea must therefore be able to store carbon in a form that prevents release back to the atmosphere for a timescale that is sufficient to allow more episodic (timescales>1 year) exchange events to both remove the excess carbon and top-up the shelf pool of inorganic nutrients. The results presented in this special issue illustrate the likely key role of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon in storing carbon on the shelf and highlight the need for longer-term measurements or monitoring to understand the nature and timing of potentially large but infrequent exchange events between the shelf and open ocean. Recent publications have also increased our understanding of the role played by shelf seas in the regulation of greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, two important climatically active gases. The removal of CO2 from the atmosphere was shown to be heavily influenced by the strength of wintertime winds, whilst a new model showed how land management may impact on N2O release by coastal waters whereas the control of N2O in ocean waters was under the control of seasonal timing of the physical oceanography. |
| Exploitation Route | data is submitted to BODC and is useable by modellers and academics researching greenhouse gases, nutrient cycling and biological productivity in shelf seas |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Environment |
| Description | NERC SSB additional funding |
| Amount | £18,533 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NE/K002058/1 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 09/2016 |
| Description | Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry - Science to Policy |
| Amount | £19,651 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2017 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Title | Spectrophotometric pH in seawater |
| Description | A new instrument was developed for the spectrophotometric determination of seawater pH using the meta-cresol-purple dye (MCP). The automated system integrates a high precision burette, spectrophotometer and thermometer with a custom-built light source. Data reduction is performed with a custom script in R (r-project.org). The accuracy of the system is calculated as better than 0.003 pH units when compared with pH calculated from independent measurements of Alkalinity and Inorganic Carbon in seawater. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Automation ensures improved reliability, accuracy and precision with substantial efficiency improvement translating to reduced cost. Potential to get the whole carbonate system (TA, DIC, pH and pCO2) from a single sample. |
| Title | AMT19 Nitrification data set |
| Description | High resolution data set describing nitrification rates across the boundary between the photic and aphotic depths of the Atlantic Ocean. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The data was presented as a poster to the AMT anniversary conference (2015) and is in preparation for publication in the peer reviewed literature. |
| Title | Abundance of microbial phytoplankton abundance through the water column during the NERC Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry cruise DY029 in April 2015 |
| Description | This dataset contains depth profiles of the mean abundance of groups of plankton as cells per millilitre, measured using flow cytometry . The groups quantified are divided into phytoplankton and heterotrophs. Phytoplankton groups quantified are: Synechococcus sp. (cyanobacteria)(Syn), Prochlorococcus sp. (cyanobacteria)(Pro), picoeuakryotes (smaller than 3 µm) (Peuk), cryptophytes (Crypto), coccolithophores (Cocco) and nanoeukaryotes (Neuk) not already mentioned (3-20 µm). Heterotrophs quantified are: heterotrophic bacteria with relatively high nucleic acid content (HNA) and bacteria with relatively low DNA (LNA). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None |
| Title | Abundance of microbial phytoplankton abundance through the water column during the NERC Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry cruise DY033 in July-August 2015 |
| Description | This dataset contains depth profiles of the mean abundance of groups of plankton as cells per millilitre, measured using flow cytometry . The groups quantified are divided into phytoplankton and heterotrophs. Phytoplankton groups quantified are: Synechococcus sp. (cyanobacteria)(Syn), Prochlorococcus sp. (cyanobacteria)(Pro), picoeuakryotes (smaller than 3 µm) (Peuk), cryptophytes (Crypto), coccolithophores (Cocco) and nanoeukaryotes (Neuk) not already mentioned (3-20 µm). Heterotrophs quantified are: heterotrophic bacteria with relatively high nucleic acid content (HNA) and bacteria with relatively low DNA (LNA). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None |
| Title | Abundance of microbial phytoplankton abundance through the water column during the Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry cruise DY018 in November-December 2014 |
| Description | Quantification of cyanobacteria, small (<20µm) phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria from CTD rosette bottles through the water column. Abundance estimates reported as cells per millilitre |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None |
| Title | Benthic carbonate system in FABM-ERSEM |
| Description | Implemented benthic alkalinity fluxes and carbonate system calculations in FABM-ERSEM model framework. Contributions of benthic biogeochemical fluxes to benthic alkalinity are taken into account. Bulk benthic pH and saturation states are calculated, also rough per-layer estimates. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Benthic carbonate system implementation is a basis for many ocean acidification and CCS impact studies, long-term carbon dynamics modelling in climate scenarios. |
| URL | https://gitlab.ecosystem-modelling.pml.ac.uk/edge/ersem/tree/V1/SAFE |
| Title | DY018 Phytoplankton and microzooplankton community structure, abundance and biomass |
| Description | Species-specific abundance and biomass estimates from depth profiles enumerated from Lugol's-preserved water samples collected from the euphotic zone and analysed by light microscopy |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Data to be used in publications and models |
| Title | DY029 Phytoplankton and microzooplankton community structure, abundance and biomass |
| Description | Species-specific abundance and biomass estimates from depth profiles enumerated from Lugol's-preserved water samples collected from the euphotic zone and analysed by light microscopy |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Low abundance of diatoms during the spring bloom period. Data to be published in peer-reviewed papers and model development |
| Title | DY033 Phytoplankton and microzooplankton community structure, abundance and biomass |
| Description | Species-specific abundance and biomass estimates from depth profiles enumerated from Lugol's-preserved water samples collected from the euphotic zone and analysed by light microscop |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Prolific abundance of ciliated protozoa. Data to be published in peer-reviewed papers and used in model development |
| Title | Diagnostic variables in benthic ERSEM |
| Description | Added series of individual diagnostic variables (i.e. fluxes) to be added to aggregate diagnostic variables for budget calculations. These include particulate deposition fluxes, suspension-feeding, resuspension fluxes, fluxes of dissolved inorganics and gases, biotic respiration etc. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Individual diagnostics are necessary for calculation of aggregated diagnostics (fluxes), which will allow estimates of stocks and fluxes of carbon and other elements in North-Atlantic Shelf area, implemented in 3D modelling context. |
| URL | https://gitlab.ecosystem-modelling.pml.ac.uk/edge/ersem/ |
| Title | Epibenthic and infaunal predators in ERSEM |
| Description | Zoobenthic functional groups of epibenthic and infaunal predators were added to ERSEM. The addition is facilitated through fabm.yaml input and is utilizing generalized structure of model code for benthic fauna. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | More complete representation of benthic faunal functional types in the model. Possibility for implementing the model for benthic biodiversity studies. |
| URL | https://gitlab.ecosystem-modelling.pml.ac.uk/edge/ersem/tree/feat/benPred |
| Title | Flexible structure for material deposition in ERSEM |
| Description | Implemented flexible structure for material deposition in ERSEM, allowing arbitrary number of deposition targets defined by model user. Previously this split into benthic organic matter was hardcoded, while new structure is more flexible, allowing partitioning into any number of benthic pools in any proportion. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | New structure allows more flexibility from the user side, better tailoring model structure to research questions. |
| URL | https://gitlab.ecosystem-modelling.pml.ac.uk/edge/ersem/ |
| Title | FlowCAM small zooplankton adundance - cruises DY018, DY026, DY029, DY033 |
| Description | Abundance data of small zooplankton collected using a 63µm mesh net determined using FlowCAM |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Contribution to biomass spectrum and peer review paper |
| Title | N2O concentrations from DY018, DY029, DY033 |
| Description | Seasonal and spatial analysis of N2O in the Celtic Sea ( Nov 2014 - August 2015) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Unprecedented seasonal variability noted in association with shelf-edge processes |
| Title | Nutrient Data for JC105 |
| Description | Nutrient samples collected during RRS James Cook cruise 105, samples analysed and QC'd and submitted to BODC |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | No impacts as yet, data being assimilated at present |
| Title | Nutrient data for SSB cruise DY026 |
| Description | Nitrate, Nitrite, Silicate, Phosphate and Ammonium data from the Celtic Sea, August 2014. Submitted to BODC. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None as yet |
| Title | Resuspendable fluff layer in ERSEM |
| Description | A formulation of fluff layer was added to ERSEM model. It represents a layer of freshly sedimented, unconsolidated, easily resuspendable organic matter. It is also available as a food-source to filter-feeding zoobenthos. First-order kinetics of incorporation into consolidated sediment organic matter is implemented. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Improvement of model performance primarily in shallow coastal regions. Further possibilities for collaborations for improvement of benthic-pelagic coupling in the model. |
| URL | https://gitlab.ecosystem-modelling.pml.ac.uk/edge/ersem/tree/V1/SAFE |
| Title | SSB data set |
| Description | The NERC Shelf-Seas Biogeochemistry cruise series was completed and a comprehensive data set describing N-cycle processes is begin developed. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Under development |
| Title | Seasonal sampling coverage of the E1 site |
| Description | 10 sampling points of the Western Channel Observatory 's E1 site have been completed so far. Sampling has been at roughly monthly intervals since February. The sampling is to determine stoichiometric C;N ratios in various particulates and how they vary with depth. Additional experiments have been conducted to look at micro- and mesozoopankton grazing impact on primary production at the site. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Samples are being analysed so no impact yet |
| Title | Update of ERSEM formulation on benthic organic matter resuspension |
| Description | Model formulation of resuspension of benthic semi-labile organic matter was updated to explicitly account for vertical distribution of organic matter in sediments. This improves previous formulation based on concentration of benthic organics and makes use of information available to the model allowing only the uppermost layer of organics to be resuspended at each time instance. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Improvement of model results on resuspension and consequently on fluxes and transport of particulate and dissolved material. |
| URL | https://gitlab.ecosystem-modelling.pml.ac.uk/edge/ersem |
| Description | 2016 Ocean Sciences in New Orleans USA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Scientific presentation entitled:Nutrient Dynamics in the Celtic Sea during the 18 Month UK Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry Programme. Many and varied questions and discussions about the work from the International attendees of the conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | BBC interview and news story |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Jamie Shutler was interviewed by Jonathan Amos (BBC correspondent) over phone. he then wrote the BBC article. The FluxEngine paper that the article focuses on specifically acknowledges NERC Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry - Candyfloss project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35654938 |
| Description | Co-Chair of SCOR International Nutrient Working Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | SCOR working group #147: Towards comparability of global oceanic nutrient data. Organise International meetings and workshops to further the aims of the working group which is to improve global nutrient analysis through the use of certified reference materials. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | EGU 2016 presentation (Rees) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | EGU2016-16991 N2O and CH4 distribution and fluxes in the North Atlantic Ocean by Andy Rees, Ian Brown, Jamie Shutler, and Ian Ashton |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | GESAMP WG 38 Impact of OA on fluxes of non-CO2 climate active species |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Working group off experts to initiate publications relating to trace gases and their impact by ocean acidification and multiple stressors |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | ICES/PICES 6th Zooplankton Production Symposium (Bergen)- oral presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation entitled 'Testing the "loophole hypothesis": understanding the role of microzooplankton grazing in phytoplankton bloom dynamics'. Microzooplankton herbivory constitutes a major source of mortality for phytoplankton in many marine ecosystems, and microzooplankton are themselves important prey items for larger zooplankton. This talk reported on a series of experiments conducted over two years at station E1 in the Western English Channel to explore the relationship between microzooplanton grazing, prey cell size and growth rate. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | MetOffice COP Hackathon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A data hackathon was organized by the MetOffice as part of COP26 activities. The Plymouth Marine Laboratory presented a challenge to create an audiovisual representation of long term ocean carbon and ocean acidification data. A working group was established and and audiovisual visual presentation prepared for the Pufferfish platform at COP26 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Modelling marine benthic ecosystems: from observing state to explaining function - an invited talk at University of Plymouth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a talk at University of Plymouth Earth Science Research Seminar on my work on benthic macrofauna modelling. The talk was well attended by ~100 people - undergraduate and postgraduate students, university stuff - mainly from School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. The talk was followed by a question session and a follow-up discussion on potential for further collaboration between PML modelling and University of Plymouth Earth Science. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | NERC bitesize COP presentation (Long term global Ocean carbon monitoring for long term problems and solutions) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A presentation was given by V. Kitidis entitled "Long term global Ocean carbon monitoring for long term problems and solutions" The paper was presented on 30th Septemeber 2021 under the NERC bitesize COP theme, a series of lunchtime talks to coincide with COP 26. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Nutrient characteristics during the UK Shelf Seas Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the Final UK Shelf Seas (SSB) meeting held in Winchester, UK. This was a summary of the general nutrient results from the series of research cruises in 2014 and 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Online media and social media coverage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | A press release from the European Space Agency and a related BBC news article resulted in news articles on 11 news websites, 1 blog, 4 twitter feeds and 2 Facebook pages. ESA press release: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-3/Sentinel-3_and_the_ocean_carbon_conundrum BBC news article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35654938 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.altmetric.com/details/4969088#score |
| Description | Presentation at Challenger Society Conference September 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Spatial and temporal Nutrient Dynamics in the Celtic Sea during the UK Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry Programme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Presentation to Local Womens Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Gave presentation on NERC funded research to approx. 20 members of a local womens group. Questions and discussion followed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Steering committee member for DEFRA funded project 'HAZARD- Heirarchical assessment of zooplankton' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The role of group is to use members' experience and knowledge to help facilitate an in-depth review of the evidence supporting the development of "Hierarchical Assessment of Zooplankton", by reviewing the project's progress and contributing advice and information to support the achievement of project objectives. The group consist of 8 members representing Defra, PML, NOC and SAHFOS. The first meeting was attended by 6 members of the steering group, the project management plan & any foreseeable issues were discussed and recommendations given. Advice given to project team on links with other current monitoring/field programmes such as NERC Shelf Seas and Marine Ecosystem Research Programme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | UK Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry Pelagic group writing workshop in London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 65 people attended a NERC SSB workshop to discuss scientific results and potential outputs. This was for the Pelagic component of the SSB programme. Much discussion between the team members. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |