Research Team

Daniele Iudicone

Physical-biological coupling group, Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of Plankton

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Naples (SZN), Italy

Diatoms are generally associated to turbulent environments but the real adaptations to the specific characteristics of these complex environments are still not well understood. The availability of global-scale environmental, morphological and genomic data bases (Tara Oceans) will allow to describe the distribution and diversity of diatoms in relationship with the local physical forcings (wind stress, buoyancy losses, lateral advection etc). In Tara Oceans, the SZN team, a highly multidisciplinary group that combines physical oceanography with bioinformatics and diatom biology, will deal principally with some aspects of plankton diversity:

  1. small-scale biophysical coupling (mostly turbulence in the upper ocean boundary layer);
  2. large scale physical transport and geography of diversity;
  3. the role of life cycles in setting the diversity in selected phyto-planktonic species;
  4. geographical distribution of selected diatom and copepod groups. The work will be done within the collaborative framework of the Tara Oceans community.

Relevant publications

  1. de Boyer Montégut, C., G. Madec, A. S. Fischer, A. Lazar, D. Iudicone (2004) Mixed layer depth over the global ocean: An examination of profile data and a profile-based climatology, Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, C12003, doi:10.1029/2004JC002378.
  2. D'Ortenzio, F., D. Iudicone, C. de Boyer Montégut, P. Testor, D. Antoine, S. Marullo, R. Santoleri, G. Madec (2005) “Seasonal variability of the mixed layer depth in the Mediterranean sea as derived from in situ profiles”, Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L12605, doi:10.1029/2005GL022463 Denaro F. M., G. De Stefano, D. Iudicone, V. Botte, 2007. A finite volume dynamic large-eddy simulation method for buoyancy driven turbulent geophysical flows, Ocean Modelling, 17, 199-218.
  3. Esposito S., V. Botte, D. Iudicone, M. Ribera d'Alcalà (2009) Numerical analysis of cumulative impact of phytoplankton photoresponses to light variation on carbon assimilation.” Journal of Theoretical Biology, 261, 361-371.
  4. Zingone, A., L. Dubroca,, D. Iudicone, F. Margiotta, F. Corato, M. Ribera d'Alcalà, V. Saggiomo, D. Sarno (2010), Coastal phytoplankton do not rest in winter, Estuaries and Coasts, 33:342-61.
  5. Karsenti E, Acinas SG, Bork P, Bowler C, De Vargas C,… Stemmann, L., et al. (2011)A Holistic Approach to Marine Eco-Systems Biology. PLoS Biol 9(10): e1001177.

See all Research Teams

The scientific activities of the Tara Oceans expedition, led by EMBL senior scientist Eric Karsenti, present an unprecedented effort that resulted in 35,000 samples containing millions of small organism collected in more than 210 ocean stations, chosen for their climatic significance or biodiversity.