ECOTIP D3.2 Microbial Traits

This deliverable presents the conclusions and recommendation from a workshop on Microbial Traits
held at DTU in September 2021. The terms of reference were to ensure that the unicellular modelling
component in the NUM model (D3.1) covered sufficient detail to ensure it fulfills the requirements of
ECOTIP. This work is a direct output from Task 3.1 Generalized trait-based model of plankton and it
supports the scientific basis of the model framework. The general recommendations are that
diazotrophy, while important on a global scale, is not of immediate importance for the diversity and
ecology of the subpolar North Atlantic. Of more direct importance are the microbial traits that lend
directly to the coagulation and sinking of organic carbon, addressing one of the most immediate
unresolved issues of the biological carbon pump; how export flux is related to the community structure
of primary producers and their consumers in the surface ocean.