Interactive Visualization of Plankton – Mediated Nutrient Cycling in the Narragansett Bay

Microbial plankton play a critical role in global biogeochemical cycling, and while a vast amount of genomics data has been collected from microbial communities throughout the ocean, there remains a gap in connecting this data to ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. One key question is how different genotypes influence an organism's environmental impact? Here, we scientists and designers have collaborated to develop an interactive visual tool that helps to better understand the relationships between microbial ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycling. The tool is an agent-based simulation model created in Processing programming environment based on seasonal abundance data collected from Narragansett Bay. The interactive visual story features three main narratives. First, is the role of genetic data in understanding the metabolic footprint of organisms and in turn the microbial loop in the ocean and global carbon cycle. Second, is the relationship between the relative abundance of organisms, the connections between these organisms, and seasonal changes in the ocean environment. The third is the links between phytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria, and phages in relation to the ocean carbon cycle. We modeled each organism with unique properties that reflect their biological identities and interspecies relationships. Carbon is represented as a currency that is traded between organisms and their environment, changing form as it passes through each phase in the cycle. Users interact with the simulated ecosystem by adding organisms and altering environmental conditions. As the simulation plays out based on the agents' hardcoded properties and behaviors users discover inter-species interactions and observe direct associations between carbon sequestration and specific microbial communities. The gamification of these interactions encourages experimentation on the user's side and inculcates a deeper understanding of complex biological systems and their roles in global climate adaptations. We track the instantaneous abundance of each agent in the system and visualize it as a dynamic graph of species populations overlaid with concentration of free carbon. To foster community engagement, we have established a cross-institutional collaboration to develop a novel visual methodology for interpreting, visualizing, and presenting computational models to the public. We use the computational model from this study to narrate the environmental changes observed. We create a multi-scale interactive visualization to demonstrate the impact of seasonal environmental conditions on the plankton community composition of Narragansett Bay and showcase the relationships between cellular nutrient flux, complex microbial communities, global carbon cycling, and climate change. This project combines scientific development with human-oriented design, serving as a catalyst for new modes of production at the intersection of scientific knowledge and design making in the areas of sustainability and coastal environmental research. It aims to propagate scientific knowledge among the general public and foster active participation in the dissemination of scientific knowledge. For the scientists, this project offers an opportunity to communicate plankton research to a broader audience, providing valuable input for future model development. For the designers, the interactive visualization contributes new modes of knowledge based on environmental awareness and sustainability themes.