A dynamic model of an experimental bloom of coccolithophores Emiliania huxleyi

A dynamic model has been developed to represent biogeochemical events observed during an experimentally induced bloom of coccolithophores Emiliania huxleyi. This bloom occurred in a mesocosm experiment (Bergen 2001 experiment) during which ecosystem development was followed over a 23-days period through changes of the stocks of inorganic nutrients (nitrate, ammonium and phosphate), dissolved inorganic carbon and pCO2, O2 concentration, pigments, particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon, the production of Transparent Exopolymeric Particles (TEP), primary production, alkalinity, calcification and particulate inorganic carbon. The dynamic model is based on unbalanced algal growth and balanced growth for bacteria as described in Van den Meersche et al. (2004). In addition, in order to adequately reproduce the observations, the model has been extended by including an explicit description of calcification, T.E.P production and an enhanced mortality due to viruses. This last process, based on a critical promiscuity between cellular hosts and viral agents, successfully contributed to reproduce the bloom extinction as observed in the mesocosm experiment.

This model will be implemented in a coupled physical-biogeochemical model of the Black Sea ecosystem in the framework of the EU Sesame project and in the Gulf of Biscay in the frame of the Belgian PEACE project.