Seasonal Phytoplankton Community Data for the Florida Keys, 2016-2021

From 2016 to 2021, this dataset documents seasonal phytoplankton biomass and community composition in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary using CHEMTAX analysis of pigment concentrations. It covers nearshore and offshore sites, showing small but significant seasonal variability and distinct community differences between site types. The data was collected by Sebastian Di Geronimo and establishes a baseline for phytoplankton abundance and distribution patterns in the sanctuary.

Use Cases

• Modeling phytoplankton community shifts based on seasonal and spatial location data.
• Comparing nearshore versus offshore phytoplankton biomass and composition.
• Analyzing the dominance of specific pigment groups like Cyanobacteria-2 (Synechococcus) across sites.
• Establishing environmental baselines for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary based on multi-year pigment data.

Strengths

• Covers a multi-year time range from 2016 to 2021.
• Provides comparative data from both nearshore and offshore sampling locations.
• Uses CHEMTAX analysis, a method described as more efficient than traditional morphological characterization.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is small (1.3 MB), suggesting limited scope or aggregated summary data.

Provenance

Source

Sebastian Di Geronimo via figshare

Collection Method

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to quantify chlorophyll-a and other pigments, analyzed with CHEMTAX.

Time Range

2016 to 2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-15 04:27:25; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Straits of Florida near the Florida Keys, specifically within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS)