Virtual Laboratory · Marine Carbon and Plankton

Carbon-Plankton Dynamics

Explore how nutrients, environmental conditions and ecosystem processes influence plankton dynamics and the movement of carbon through marine food webs.

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Open to EOSC users. This page is available anonymously. Sign in through EOSC AAI or another supported identity to use the Virtual Lab; no project-membership invitation is required.

Carbon-Plankton Dynamics Virtual Lab logo

Purpose and scope

Model marine food webs in carbon units

The Virtual Lab provides a modelling environment for simulating interactions between nutrients, phytoplankton, zooplankton and detritus—and for tracing the associated carbon flows.

At its core is a Nutrient–Phytoplankton–Zooplankton–Detritus (NPZD) model expressed in carbon units. The model supports the analysis of primary and secondary productivity, organic-matter degradation, and carbon exchanges with the atmosphere and rivers. Initially implemented and validated for the Belgian part of the North Sea, it has also been applied to the northern Adriatic Sea.

Questions the VLab can support

Connect plankton ecology with the marine carbon cycle

Environmental drivers

Assess the relative influence of nutrients, sea-surface temperature and other environmental conditions on phytoplankton dynamics.

Spatial and temporal variability

Investigate changes in plankton biomass and ecosystem behaviour across time and between contrasting marine regions.

Carbon sink or source

Explore whether ecosystem processes favour carbon uptake, recycling or release under different conditions.

Climate pressures

Examine possible ecosystem responses to changing temperature, nutrient regimes, ocean acidification and other stressors.

Model sensitivity

Configure parameters, run simulations and compare time series to understand influential processes and uncertainties.

Reusable open science

Reuse the models, methods and collaborative tools for new locations and related marine-ecosystem questions.

Key service

NPZD Models

The NPZD Models service provides cloud-based tools for configuring, executing and interpreting carbon-based plankton ecosystem models for the North Sea and northern Adriatic Sea.

Model and workflow

Users work with the model through managed analytical environments, including interactive model configuration and visualisation.

  • Nutrient–Phytoplankton–Zooplankton–Detritus structure
  • Carbon and nutrient cycling through the marine food web
  • Configuration of inputs and parameters
  • Time-series output and sensitivity analysis
  • Cloud-based execution through JupyterHub and RStudio

Environmental inputs

The model draws on biological, chemical and physical observations, including:

  • Phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance
  • Sea-surface temperature and salinity
  • Dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and silicate
  • Atmospheric pCO₂, dissolved inorganic carbon and air–sea carbon flux
  • Wind speed, pH and related environmental variables

Data infrastructures

Relevant observations and carbon information are drawn from established European and international services:

  • EMODnet Biology and EurOBIS
  • EMODnet Chemistry
  • Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT)
  • ICOS Carbon Portal

Availability, licences and citation conditions remain those of the contributing providers.

Access and policies

Open to EOSC users

Anyone may consult this public page and its linked documentation. EOSC users can enter the Virtual Lab after signing in through EOSC AAI or another identity provider supported by D4Science.

Open-access VLab

Sign in and run the models

No project-membership invitation is required. Use a supported academic or federated identity to access the analytical environments and resources made available through the VLab.

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Purpose

Research, education and model exploration

The VLab supports marine-ecosystem research, model development and evaluation, education, training, and the investigation of relationships between plankton dynamics and marine carbon cycling.

Users must review licences, attribution requirements and access conditions attached to input data, software and generated resources.

Acceptable Use Policy

Use the environment responsibly, lawfully and for legitimate research, education or innovation activities. Respect security, privacy, intellectual property and computational limits.

Read the D4Science AUP

User Access Policy

The VLab is open to EOSC users authenticating through a supported identity. Access is not restricted to members of a particular project consortium and remains subject to the AUP and operational capacity.

Resource conditions

Integrated data, software and documentation retain their own licences, citation requirements and possible provider conditions. Consult each resource record before reuse.

Responsibility and provenance

Developed in Blue-Cloud 2026

The Carbon-Plankton Dynamics Virtual Lab was developed within Blue-Cloud 2026 by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), in collaboration with the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), Italy.

The service is operated on the D4Science infrastructure and is now presented as part of the EOSC Node | European Digital Twin Ocean. The scientific partners are responsible for the model and scientific content; D4Science provides the digital environment and technical operation.

  • VLIZ · Virtual Lab lead
  • OGS · Scientific partner
  • D4Science · Digital infrastructure
  • EOSC Node | European Digital Twin Ocean

Blue-Cloud 2026 received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101094227.