Redox-informed models of global biogeochemical cycles
Name
s41467-020-19454-w.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.87 MB
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Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
7e21a1ea7083165a61655d8c840208aa
Author(s)
Zakem, Emily J.
Polz, Martin F
Follows, Michael J
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Microbial activity mediates the fluxes of greenhouse gases. However, in the global models of the marine and terrestrial biospheres used for climate change projections, typically only photosynthetic microbial activity is resolved mechanistically. To move forward, we argue that global biogeochemical models need a theoretically grounded framework with which to constrain parameterizations of diverse microbial metabolisms. Here, we explain how the key redox chemistry underlying metabolisms provides a path towards this goal. Using this first-principles approach, the presence or absence of metabolic functional types emerges dynamically from ecological interactions, expanding model applicability to unobserved environments. “Nothing is less real than realism. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.” –Georgia O’Keefe
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/S41467-020-19454-W
