Follows
Michael J.
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Report on the “Trait-based approaches to ocean life” scoping workshop, October 5-8, 2015
Follows
Michael J.
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From the introduction: Marine ecosystems are rich and biodiverse, often populated by thousands of competing and
interacting species with a vast range of behaviors, forms, and life histories. This great ecological
complexity presents a formidable challenge to understanding how marine ecosystems are
structured and controlled, but also how they respond to natural and anthropogenic changes. The
trait-based approach to ocean life is emerging as a novel framework for understanding the
complexity, structure, and dynamics of marine ecosystems, but also their broader significance.
Rather than considering species individually, organisms are characterized by essential traits that
capture key aspects of diversity. Trait distributions in the ocean emerge through evolution and
natural selection, and are mediated by the environment, biological interactions, anthropogenic
drivers, and organism behavior. Because trait variations within and across communities lead to
variation in the rates of crucial ecosystem functions such as carbon export, this mechanistic
approach sheds light on how variability in the environment, including climate change, impacts
marine ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, and associated feedbacks to climate and society.