WG 120 on Marine Phytoplankton and Global Climate Regulation:

The Phaeocystis spp. Cluster as a Model

Co-chairs: Winfried W.C. Gieskes (The Netherlands) and Sauveur Belviso (France)

Sponsors: SCOR, U.S. National Science Foundation

Date Approved: October 2000

Date Disbanded:

Terms of Reference

• Establish a Web site to facilitate coordination of ongoing research worldwide, to create cohesion of efforts.

• Make an inventory of aspects that relate to cycling of biogeochemically relevant elements. These aspects are

  • Factors regulating bloom inception

  • The grazing issue: bottom-up or top-down control

  • Cellular response to environmental factors

  • Distribution patterns: molecular-biological approaches

  • Genetics: pathways of distribution and biodiversity in the cluster

  • Emission of climate-relevant biogenic gases, and relevance for climate regulation

  • Cloud inception and characterisation of condensation nuclei over blooms

  • Sensitivity of climate models for presence of plankton, in casu the Phaeocystis cluster

• Meet once a year to discuss progress, and divide tasks to arrive at a series of chapters produced under the responsibility of members of the Working Group.
• In the last year, write a series of reviews covering the subjects mentioned under Term of Reference #2, which will be the chapters of a book that will be produced as the product of the Working Group. At least two Working Group members will be responsible for each chapter.

Meetings:
#1: 3-7 March 2002
Norwich, UK

#2: 1-4 May 2003
Savannah, Georgia, USA

Product:

Website for Activity: