This study will be part of the EU project NTAP. The overall objective of NTAP is to provide a unified conceptual framework for nutrient dynamics as modulated by the interaction of turbulence and plankton and to use this information to aid in implementing and modifying legislation on coastal water quality and management. Specifically, the objectives are a) to build a database on turbulence effects by gathering existing scattered data, b) to produce experimental data on key organisms, interactions and mass transfer rates, c) to develop a sensor for laboratory measurement of small-scale turbulence, and d) to produce a dynamical model at community level with exploratory and predictive capabilities. The present project will fit within Objective b), and will complement other NTAP experimental studies with cultures and natural communities that are being carried out in different European laboratories. The results derived from this project will also be valuable to test and calibrate the model developed within Objective d).
Experimental study (land-based mesocosm)
University of Bergen, Norway University of Cambridge, UK Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, France University of Copenhaqen, Denmark