AAP Project 4501: Southern Ocean Zooplankton Distribution 2000-2016

AAP Project 4501 data focuses on mapping and predicting ecological change in the Southern Ocean. The dataset, from the Australian Ocean Data Network, pairs zooplankton records from the Continuous Plankton Recorder Program (2000-2016) with environmental variables like sea surface temperature and mixed layer depth. Hierarchical Models of Species Communities (HMSC) were used to model community changes over time.

Use Cases

• Modeling zooplankton species distribution based on environmental covariates like SST and mixed layer depth.
• Analyzing temporal changes in Southern Ocean plankton communities from 2000 to 2016.
• Predicting ecological responses to climate indices such as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).
• Studying community-level interactions and biodiversity patterns using hierarchical species community models.

Strengths

• Data spans a 16-year time series from 2000 to 2016, providing a multi-decadal perspective.
• Integrates biological observations with key environmental variables like SST, SST anomaly, IOD, SAM, and mixed layer depth.
• Uses a structured modeling framework (Hierarchical Models of Species Communities) for inference and prediction.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Data freshness should be verified; last metadata update was 2026-04-28.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, utilizing the Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder Program.

Collection Method

Extraction and pairing of existing CPR survey data with environmental covariates, analyzed using HMSC models.

Time Range

2000 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 17:20:10.645916

Geography

Southern Ocean