Dr Jorn Bruggeman
Dr Jorn Bruggeman
Junior Research Fellow in Biology
Research interests
My research targets the quantitative relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. I work on this with a specific application in mind: to resolve the role of marine plankton in global biogeochemical cycles. This includes the phytoplankton-mediated removal of atmospheric CO2, which has a major impact on the global climate. The contribution of plankton to biogeochemical cycling is a result of the interplay of hundreds of species, each fulfilling different, specific functions in the ecosystem. The species composition and diversity of plankton communities is, therefore, of key importance for elemental cycling.
A quantitative assessment of ecosystem behaviour requires mathematical models. It is difficult to introduce a realistic representation of biodiversity into such models without overburdening them with complexity and uncertainties. To resolve this, I take a trait-based approach (Bruggeman & Kooijman, 2007) that permits approximate aggregation of species. This renders a compact ecosystem description that still resolves key features of communities, including their functional diversity.
Given this focus, my interests include:
- The characterization of dominant (phyto)plankton traits, using a combination of existing laboratory observations and evolutionary relationships.
- The derivation of trade-offs from physiological mechanisms, partially inspired by principles from Dynamic Energy Budget theory.
- The calibration of trait-based plankton models to laboratory and field observations. The latter include depth-explicit patterns, which are modelled with the General Ocean Turbulence Model.
- The integration of trait-based plankton models in hydrodynamic models of the global ocean circulation. This allows the model to resolve spatial variability, the role of transport processes, and the combined global contribution of plankton to elemental cycling. Model predictions are then compared with observations from various sources, including satellite images.
Selected publications
Bruggeman, J. & Kooijman, S. A. L. M. 2007. A biodiversity-inspired approach to aquatic ecosystem modeling. Limnology and Oceanography 52:1533-44.
Bruggeman, J., Heringa, J. & Brandt, B. 2009. PhyloPars: estimation of unknown parameters using phylogeny. Nucleic Acids Research 37:W179-W84.
Bruggeman, J. 2009. Succession in plankton communities: a trait-based perspective. PhD thesis. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
