Ecosystem Modeling

The Frisk laboratory works in collaboration with Sean Lucey (NOAA, Woods Hole, MA) and Benjamin Planque (IMR, Norway) to develop a food-web model based on the principles of Chance and Necessity (CaN, Planque and Mullon, 2020) to reconstruct past trophic dynamics of Winter Flounder in the Southern New England and Mid-Atlantic Bight areas. Using the model, we investigate the drivers (fisheries, predation, or climate) of the Winter Flounder collapse.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Frisk

Post-doctoral researcher: Dr. Elliot Sivel

Planque, B., and Mullon, C. 2020. Modelling chance and necessity in natural systems. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 77: 1573–1588.

 

Photo by M.G. Frisk

The Frisk laboratory members are currently collaborating on a review of ecosystem modelling practices for the Northeastern US Shelf. This work consists of reviewing published literature and identifying major topics addressed by modelers for this area. Doing so, we hope to identify knowledge gaps and provide recommendations on the applications we think are worth developing in the future in order to better inform management. This process is essential to improve existing models that are currently being used for ecosystem-management frameworks.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Frisk

Post-doctoral researcher: Dr. Elliot Sivel

Students: Tatum Eigenberger, Maria Manz, Madison Muehl, Ashley Nicoll

Technicians: Allegra Ervin, Farrah Leone, Amanda Stigliano

 

 

“Hypothetical predicted probability of (a) mature female and (b) neonate spiny dogfish occurrence during spring in the Northeast (US) shelf large marine ecosystem for a year exhibiting average (BTavg), warmer (BTavg + 1 °C), and cooler (BTavg – 1 °C) bottom temperatures. MA, Mid-Atlantic Bight; SNE, Southern New England; GB, Georges Bank; and GM, Gulf of Maine. Note that only the abiotic submodel was used for prediction because of uncertainty regarding how prey species would respond to temperature changes.” (Sagarese et al. 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sagarese, Skyler R., Frisk, Michael G., Cerrato, Robert M., Sosebee, Kathy A., Musick, John A., and Rago, Paul J.. 2014. Application of generalized additive models to examine ontogenetic and seasonal distributions of spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in the Northeast (US) shelf large marine ecosystem. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences71(6): 847-877. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2013-0342