Marine plankton ecology models: a review Authors Jordi Solé i Ollé Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC. Abstract During the last decades, the use of models for ecological marine plankton research has become more common and necessary. Models are currently a key element in research, both in the study of biological processes or in physical- biological interactions, as well as in making predictions or estimates of chlorophyll or marine primary production during certain time periods in selected areas. Models are also indispensable tools to efficiently manage the anthropogenic impacts or climate change effects in ecosystems. A possible classification of the models used in plankton ecology is to divide them between mechanistic models and statistical or empirical models. In this work, a brief review of the main contributions in the modelling of planktonic ecosystems is taken into account, using this classification it is explained the pros and cons of each of these types of models and some examples are given. Then, the main current issues in modelling research and future development of the model are presented. From such issues, the challenges that must face models and modellers in order to advance in modelling research, not only in the ecology of plankton, but also in the physical-biological environmental models, are finally outlined. Downloads PDF (Català) Issue Vol. 69 (2019) Section Destacats de recerca License The intellectual property of the articles belongs to the respective authors. At the time of submitting the articles to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, authors accept the following terms: — Authors assign to the SCB (a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, public communication (including communication through social networks) and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, in any form and medium, including digital platforms. The Publications Committee reserves the right to accept or refuse submitted articles and the right to make any editorial changes it deems appropriate. If the suggested changes are accepted by authors, they should re-submit the article with such changes. — Authors answer to the SCB for the authorship and originality of submitted articles. In other words, authors assure that submitted articles do not contain fragments of works by other authors or fragments of their own previously published works; that the content of articles is original, and that the copyright of third parties is not infringed upon. Authors accept this responsibility and undertake to hold harmless the SCB for any loss or damage resulting from non-compliance with this obligation. Furthermore, they should include a statement in articles submitted to the journal regarding their responsibility for the content of the articles. — Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for the reproduction of all graphic material included in articles, and they should moreover ensure that images, videos, etc., have been created with the consent of the individuals appearing in them, and that material belonging to third parties is clearly identified and acknowledged as such within the text. Likewise, authors should provide the respective consents and authorisations to the SCB when submitting articles. — The SCB is exempt from any liability arising from the possible infringement of intellectual property rights by authors. In all cases, it undertakes to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies, if necessary. — Unless otherwise stated in the text or in the graphic material, the contents published in the journal are subject to an Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Spain (by-nc-nd) license from Creative Commons, the full text of which may be consulted at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/deed.en. Therefore, the general public is authorised to reproduce, distribute and communicate articles as long as their authorship and publishing entity are acknowledged, and no commercial use is made of them nor derivative work produced from them. — The journal is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by the authors of published articles.
