Esteban Acevedo-Trejos

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences

Aim Develop a biogeographical classification of phytoplankton size distributions for the Atlantic Ocean and predict the global phytoplankton size composition based on prevailing environmental conditions. Location Atlantic Ocean and Global Ocean Methods Using phytoplankton size composition data, nutrient concentrations (nitrite+nitrate, phosphate...

The factors regulating phytoplankton community composition play a crucial role in structuring aquatic food webs. However, consensus is still lacking about the mechanisms underlying the observed biogeographical differences in cell size composition of phytoplankton communities. Here we use a trait-based model to disentangle these mechanisms in two co...

Trait diversity, a key component of biodiversity, mediates many essential ecosystem functions and services. However, the mechanisms behind such relationships at large spatial scales are not fully understood. Here we adopt the functional biogeography approach to investigate how the size composition of phytoplankton communities relates to primary pro...

Mismanaged plastic waste is transported via rivers or city drains into the ocean where it accumulates in coastal sediments, ocean gyres and the deep ocean. Plastic harms marine biota and may ultimately return to humans via the food chain. Private initiatives proposing to collect plastic from the sea and rivers have gained widespread attention, espe...

Traditional ecological research has focused on taxonomic units to better understand the role of organisms in marine ecosystems. This approach has significantly contributed to our understanding of how species interact with each other and with the physical environment and has led to relevant site-specific conservation strategies. However, this taxono...

For decades, ecologists have been intrigued by the paradoxical coexistence of a wide range of phytoplankton types on a seemingly limited number of resources. The interactions between environmental conditions and trade-offs emerging from eco-physiological traits of phytoplankton are typically proposed to explain coexistence. The number of coexisting...

Biodiversity generally increases productivity in ecosystems; however, this is mediated by the specific functional traits that come with biodiversity loss or gain and how these traits interact with environmental conditions. Most biodiversity studies evaluate the effects of species richness alone, despite our increasing understanding that intraspecif...

Although the general impacts of zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton communities are clear, we know comparatively less about how specific grazing strategies interact with environmental conditions to shape the size structure of phytoplankton communities. Here, we present a new data‐driven, size‐based model that describes changes in the size composit...

Plankton community modeling is a critical tool for understanding the processes that shape marine ecosystems and their impacts on global biogeochemical cycles. These models can be of variable ecological, physiological, and physical complexity. Many published models are either not publicly available or implemented in static and inflexible code, thus...

Drainage divides separate Earth’s surface into individual river basins. Divide migration impacts the evolution of landforms, regional climate, ecosystems and biodiversity. In this Review, we assess the processes and dynamics of divide migration and offer insights into the impact on climate and biodiversity. Drainage divides are not static: they can...

The interplay between tectonics and climate is known to impact the evolution and distribution of life forms, leading to present-day patterns of biodiversity. Numerical models that integrate the co-evolution of life and landforms are ideal tools to investigate the causal links between these earth system components. Here, we present a tool that coupl...

Plankton community modeling is a critical tool for understanding the processes that shape marine ecosystems and their impacts on global biogeochemical cycles. These models can be of variable ecological, physiological and physical complexity. Many published models are either not publicly available or implemented in monolithic and inflexible code, th...

The interplay between tectonics and climate is known to impact the evolution and distribution of lifeforms, leading to present-day patterns of biodiversity. Numerical models that integrate the co-evolution of life and landforms are an ideal tool to investigate the causal links between these Earth system components. Here, we present a tool that coup...

Ecosystem models need to capture biodiversity, because it is a fundamental determinant of food web dynamics and consequently of the cycling of energy and matter in ecosystems. In oceanic food webs, the plankton compartment encompasses by far most of the biomass and diversity. Therefore, capturing plankton diversity is paramount for marine ecosystem...

The symbiotic relationship between corals and photosynthetic algae is the foundation of coral reef ecosystems. This relationship breaks down, leading to coral death, when sea temperature exceeds the thermal tolerance of the coral-algae complex. While acclimation via phenotypic plasticity at the organismal level is an important mechanism for corals...

Phytoplankton cell size is a morphological property that influences how aquatic communities assemble and function. Trait-based models are now commonly used to understand how these communities respond to changes in environmental conditions. Although trade-off relationships between traits (e.g. growth-defence trade-offs) play an important role in sha...

Marine fisheries are a critically important source of food, nutrition, and employment for millions of people. As the global population increases, new and expanding pressures are created on fish resources. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been widely promoted as valuable tools for rebuilding or maintaining fish stocks around the world. The success...

Simulation models have a broad potential as decision-support tools for resource management by mechanistically representing and projecting complex ecological processes. In the case of socioeconomically and biologically important coral reef ecosystems, models have been used to address important questions regarding the effects of human impacts on thei...

Biodiversity is one of the key mechanisms that facilitate the adaptive response of planktonic communities to a fluctuating environment. How to allow for such a flexible response in marine ecosystem models is, however, not entirely clear. One particular way is to resolve the natural complexity of phytoplankton communities by explicitly incorporating...

Biodiversity is one of the key mechanisms that facilitate the adaptive response of planktonic communities to a fluctuating environment. How to allow for such a flexible response in marine ecosystem models is, however, not entirely clear. One particular way is to resolve the natural complexity of phytoplankton communities by explicitly incorporating...

The genus Kogia, which comprises only two extant species, Kogia sima and Kogia breviceps, represents one of the least known groups of cetaceans in the global ocean. In some coastal regions, however, stranding events of these species have been relatively common over the last decades. Stranding provides the opportunity to investigate the biology of t...

Recent studies have analysed valuable compilations of data for the size-scaling of phytoplankton traits, but these cannot be employed directly in most large-scale modelling studies, which typically do not explicitly resolve the rele- vant trait values. Although some recent large-scale modelling studies resolve species composition and sorting within...

It is expected that climate change will have significant impacts on ecosystems. Most model projections agree that the ocean will experience stronger stratification and less nutrient supply from deep waters. These changes will likely affect marine phytoplankton communities and will thus impact on the higher trophic levels of the oceanic food web. Th...