Plankton modelling and CLAW.

Abstract

The prospect of human-induced climate change provides a compelling imperative for an improved understanding of living systems, especially those involving ocean plankton that are proposed to have an important role in regulating climate. Ecosystems are complex, adaptive systems and mathematical modelling has proved to be a powerful tool in understanding such systems. The present article considers some of the fundamental issues currently constraining such understanding with particular consideration to modelling ecosystems that underpin the CLAW hypothesis and how they might behave in response to global warming.