Heterotrophic microbial consumers take up a major part of the primary production in oceanic systems, occupying a central role in the microbial loop. That means, their production and transformation of organic compounds mediates the cycling and diversification of organic matter in their environment.

We employ evolutionary and network flow models to simulate the assembly and evolution of the corresponding consumer-resource networks. In such network models, we study the interplay of network structure and population dynamics of marine heterotrophs in order to understand their importance for the distribution of microbial and molecular diversity in the ocean.

Further Information:
Mentges et al., "Functional Molecular Diversity of Marine Dissolved Organic Matter Is Reduced during Degradation", Frontiers in Marine Science (2017)Lücken et al., "Emergent Diversity and Persistent Turnover in Evolving Microbial Cross-Feeding Networks", Frontiers in Network Physiology (2022)Project Roseobacter