IMOS - AusCPR: Zooplankton Abundance in Australian Waters

Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder survey data measures plankton communities as a guide to ocean health. The project, funded by the Integrated Marine Observing System, aims to map biodiversity, develop a long-term baseline, and document changes in response to climate change. Data is made available in binned products suitable for time series analysis, with zero values indicating a species was looked for and not seen.

Use Cases

• Modeling plankton biodiversity and distribution changes based on the survey's mapping aims.
• Developing long-term climate change indicators based on the documented response of plankton communities.
• Creating fisheries management indices based on the stated goal of providing such metrics.
• Detecting harmful algal blooms based on the survey's stated operational aim.
• Validating satellite remote sensing data based on the described project objective.

Strengths

• Data is structured for time series analysis with explicit codes for real absences (0) and unsearched species (-999).
• Project involves multiple authoritative institutions: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere and the Australian Antarctic Division.
• Analysis method is designed for higher accuracy by counting zooplankton off the silk in a Bogorov tray.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified as the last update is listed as a future date (2026-04-28).

Provenance

Source

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Ships of Opportunity facility, analyzed by CSIRO and AAD.

Collection Method

Samples collected by Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR), with zooplankton counted off silk in a Bogorov tray.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 13:57:31.635471

Geography

Australian waters