Coupling biology and oceanography in models

The dynamics of marine ecosystems, i.e. the changes of observable chemical- biological quantities in space and time, are driven by biological and physi cal processes. Predictions of future developments of marine systems need a theoretical framework, i.e. models, solidly based on research and understan ding of the different processes involved. The natural way to describe marin e systems theoretically seems to be the embedding of chemical-biological mo dels into circulation models. However, while circulation models are relativ ely advanced the quantitative theoretical description of chemical-biologica l processes lags behind. This paper discusses some of the approaches and pr oblems in the development of consistent theories and indicates the benefici al potential of the coupling of marine biology and oceanography in models.