Earth system models (ESMs) and regional climate models (RCMs) are increasingly utilized by aquatic ecologists to study global environmental change. Over the last decade, these models have greatly enhanced their ability to simulate regional-scale ecosystems by incorporating additional biogeochemical processes and plankton functional groups, increasing their spatial resolution allowing for greater examination of mesoscale processes, and improving their capacity to assimilate data from observing systems. In this Research Topic, we invite articles that utilize ESMs and RCMs to examine fundamental processes that influence ecosystem function and structure, physical-biological coupling mechanisms, and the ecological impacts of climate change. This Research Topic will serve as a collection of research showcasing ecologically relevant results from models that will be incorporated into the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Experimental, mesocosm, and observational studies whose results can inform model development and parameterization are also germane. Pertinent research topics include, but are not limited to: climate change impacts on organismal abundance, species range, phenology, and community structure; ecological impacts of extreme events; adaptation and acclimation to changing conditions; ecological forecasts; end-to-end ecosystem models; larval dispersal and population connectivity, and; regime shifts and interannual-to-decadal variability in ecosystem structure.
Earth system models (ESMs) and regional climate models (RCMs) are increasingly utilized by aquatic ecologists to study global environmental change. Over the last decade, these models have greatly enhanced their ability to simulate regional-scale ecosystems by incorporating additional biogeochemical processes and plankton functional groups, increasing their spatial resolution allowing for greater examination of mesoscale processes, and improving their capacity to assimilate data from observing systems. In this Research Topic, we invite articles that utilize ESMs and RCMs to examine fundamental processes that influence ecosystem function and structure, physical-biological coupling mechanisms, and the ecological impacts of climate change. This Research Topic will serve as a collection of research showcasing ecologically relevant results from models that will be incorporated into the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Experimental, mesocosm, and observational studies whose results can inform model development and parameterization are also germane. Pertinent research topics include, but are not limited to: climate change impacts on organismal abundance, species range, phenology, and community structure; ecological impacts of extreme events; adaptation and acclimation to changing conditions; ecological forecasts; end-to-end ecosystem models; larval dispersal and population connectivity, and; regime shifts and interannual-to-decadal variability in ecosystem structure.