Research where others go on holiday! SeaUseTip postdoc Camilla Sguotti has swapped rainy Germany for the sun of California for a few weeks. In cooperation with various experts, she is testing and refining modelling approaches that can contribute to understanding the North Sea system in terms of its stability and resilience.
During her stay at the SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, she focused on the methods of "Empirical Dynamic Modeling", which can be used to model non-linear dynamic systems. Applied to the North Sea ecosystem and especially its fish community, it could help to better understand certain processes. These concern, for example, the stability of the community in terms of interactions between different species, as well as past and present states of the ecological system.
At the Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Diego from 16 to 21 February, she presents some results of her previous research on the dynamics of Atlantic cod stocks. Together with her colleagues, Camilla Sguotti has examined 20 different stocks. Her findings show that many of these stocks are likely to suffer negative consequences from further warming of the ocean. Collapse or recovery - the interaction between climatic changes and fishing pressure and the induced discontinuous dynamics appear to have a major influence on stock development and productivity.
At the international conference, she also presents first results of a study examining the economic impact of climate change on fisheries. The main aim of the study is to understand how market structures are changing, and with it also fishing and catch patterns.
From San Diego Camilla is going to move on to the University of Santa Barbara, where she will continue her SeaUseTip studies supported by assistant professor and advisory board member Adrian Stier.
