Phytoplankton Community and Nitrogen Uptake in Western Australian Coastal Waters

Phytoplankton species composition, abundance, and nitrogen uptake rates from the Leeuwin Current and coastal waters off the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Data includes pigment biomass percentages for groups like picoplankton and diatoms, and nitrogen uptake rates measured at trace and saturating levels. The dataset was provided by Parks Australia and originates from research relevant to Australian Marine Parks.

Use Cases

• Compare phytoplankton community structure between oligotrophic currents and productive shelf countercurrents based on species composition data.
• Analyze the relative importance of new versus regenerated nitrogen production based on f-ratio estimates across different water types.
• Model nitrogen uptake kinetics in oligotrophic waters using nitrate uptake rate measurements at trace and saturating concentrations.
• Investigate the utility of chemotaxonomic methods for studying pelagic ecosystem structure as highlighted in the description.

Strengths

• Includes specific quantitative measurements, such as pigment biomass percentages (e.g., picoplankton accounted for 55–65% in LC&OS waters).
• Provides nitrogen uptake rate ranges (0.5 to 7.1 nmol L−1 h−1) and mean f-ratio estimates (e.g., 0.14–0.17) with standard deviations.
• Compares data from distinct oceanic regions: the Leeuwin Current, offshore waters, and shelf countercurrents (Ningaloo and Capes Currents).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Parks Australia, referencing a source publication.

Collection Method

Phytoplankton assessed via light microscopy and chemotaxonomic methods; isotopic nitrogen uptake experiments (15NO3−, 15NH4+) performed.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-16 23:35:41.003652; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Coastal waters off the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, including the Leeuwin Current and shelf countercurrents.