Biodiversity hotspots of primary producers at the

global scaleAlice Soccodato

In collaboration with: d’Ovidio F, De Monte S, Levy M, Follows M, Alvain S.

Liege – Friday 17 May 2013

Why do we care about biodiversity?

Cadotte 2006

alpha

gamma

Individualsallelic diversity, activity

rates, susceptibility, survival, natural selection

Ecosystem: resistance & resilience, functioning & services

Species & communities: migration, dispersal, blooming,

diapose, ecological niche, range size and localization, (di)synhcronization,

(dis)equilibrium, (un)coupling, energy flux, matter flux

beta

Microbes can

be dispersed

universally but only

measurable where

conditions promote

their growth.

“Everything is everywhere but environment selects”

(Baas-Becking 1934)

Species distributions and successions are based on a phase-space defined by energy

and nutrients

Which are the ecological controls of phytoplankton biodiversity in the (sub)-

mesoscale open ocean?

- biophysical mechanisms (role of stirring)

structuring meso- and sub-mesoscale distribution of

phytoplankton species or functional types,

aggregation and dispersion;

- mapping biodiversity hotspots and gradients by

integrating remote sensing, models and in situ data;

Methods Data:- Multisatellite data (altimetry, SST, Chl);- Darwin model (Follows et al. 2007; Barton et al.2010);

- in-situ observations of planktonic communities;

Analyses:

- Physat algorithm: chl spectra phytoplankton

dominant group (Alvain et al. 2008, 2012);

- Lagrangian diagnostics: surface currents

transport fronts, mixing regions and origin of water

masses (F. d'Ovidio et al. 2010);

- Biodiversity measures: remote sensed, model

simulations and in-situ data hotspots.

Phytoplankton biogeography

Follows et al. 2007

Physat

Horizontal stirring and phytoplankton communities: towards the definition of a

new biodiversity index

Area-based Shannon entropy Index

high

low

Global patterns of area-based diversity

Hotspots by remote sensing

Hotspots by Darwin Model

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity

Darwin model

Darwin model satellite (De Monte S, Soccodato A, et al 2013)

Alp

ha

Are

a-b

ase

d

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity

Darwin alpha biodiversity hotspots

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity

Darwin Alpha + Darwin area-based biodiversity hotspots

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity

Darwin Alpha + Darwin area-based + Physat area-based biodiversity hotspots

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity:in-situ nano-microplankton biodiversity

De Monte S, Soccodato A, et al. 2013

Alpha div. (AMT)

Area-based div. (satellite)

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity:in-situ biodiversity through taxa

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity:in-situ biodiversity through taxa

Biodiversity vs temperature

Stegen et al. 2012

De Monte S, Soccodato A, et al. 2013

Area-based diversity vs SST Metabolic diversity vs T

Tittensor et al. 2010

Oceanic diversity vs SST

Stirring creates environmental heterogeneity structuring phytoplankton distribution

Information on the alpha biodiversity of the whole phytoplankton community can be retrieved from just looking at the patchiness of dominant phytoplankton types

Patchiness happears as a functional structure of the pelagic environment with possible bottom up effect on the trophic chain.

Conclusions

Thanks!

Any questions?

I'm all ears!

Btw I’m a fenneck!

Alpha vs area-based biodiversity

Barton et al. 2010 Vallina et al. submitted

Darwin model satellite (De Monte S, Soccodato A, et al 2013)

Alp

ha

Are

a-b

ase

d

Temporal diversity