Project funding

Project overview

Life in the oceans is sustained by nitrogen. In 75% of the global ocean surface, nitrogen is provided by "diazotrophs", small planktonic cells capable of reducing atmospheric dinitrogen into bioavailable forms. Diazotrophs provide the nitrogen that fuels as much as half of the global primary production and balance the global nitrogen reservoir. Hence, diazotrophs are crucial for global climate regulation.

The goal of NOTION is to determine how climate change will affect the activity of diazotrophs, and how they will impact phytoplankton biodiversity and productivity in the future ocean. To that end, we will enhance global ocean ecological models with new datasets and parameterizations stemmed from dedicated experiments. NOTION will take the unprecedented challenge of integrating genetic data into biogeochemical models to cover an important current gap in our knowledge: bridging phylogenetic and functional diversity. This new insight will be highly useful for the scientific community, serving as a role model for future studies focusing on other planktonic groups.

The BNP Paribas Foundation Climate & Biodiversity Initiative is committed to raise the awareness of environmental issues. Despite the critical importance of marine phytoplankton in regulating climate and providing resources to humanity, their biodiversity and functioning are mostly unknown to the public. Through a comprehensive outreach and educational program, this project will raise the NOTION of marine phytoplankton biodiversity as a key to climate change mitigation and ecosystem legacy for future generations.

Bridges members involved

Alba Filella

Project collaborators

Jacqueline Ümbricht (IOW, Germany)

Maren Voss (IOW, Germany)

Domitille Louchard (ETH-Zürich, Switzerland)

Nicolas Gruber (ETH-Zürich, Switzerland)

Lasse Riemann (Copenhaguen University, Denmark)