Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey Zooplankton Counts

Australian waters are monitored by the AusCPR survey, a joint project of CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere and the Australian Antarctic Division, to measure plankton communities. The dataset provides binned products for time series analysis, with species abundance data where 0 indicates a looked-for absence and -999 indicates the species was not searched for. Results are available through the AODN portal and the project is funded by the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in zooplankton species abundance and distribution using binned time-series products.
• Map plankton biodiversity by correlating species presence/absence data (including 0 and -999 codes) with sampling locations.
• Develop baseline indices for fisheries management by modeling copepod and other zooplankton population dynamics.
• Validate satellite remote sensing data by comparing in-situ plankton counts from the survey with ocean color observations.
• Detect harmful algal blooms by monitoring phytoplankton counts retained during the zooplankton analysis process.

Strengths

• Data is structured for time series analysis with binned products accounting for taxonomic changes over time.
• Sample analysis method (rinsing off silk) is designed for more accurate zooplankton identification compared to on-silk counting.
• Project involves multiple authoritative institutions (CSIRO, Australian Antarctic Division) ensuring scientific rigor.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column count, and temporal range of the data are unknown from the description.
• Data includes flagged values (-999) indicating when a species was not looked for, requiring careful filtering for analysis.
• Sample size and geographic resolution within Australian waters are not specified.

Provenance

Source

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Ships of Opportunity facility, analyzed by CSIRO and Australian Antarctic Division staff.

Collection Method

Plankton collected by Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR), zooplankton counted off silk in a Bogorov tray under a dissecting scope to retain phytoplankton.

Freshness

Last updated date is 2026-04-04, but specific update frequency is not stated.

Geography

Australian oceans and Antarctic waters serviced from Queensland and Hobart laboratories.