Brief description
This dataset describes phytoplankton distribution and abundance and abundance during the TEMPO Voyage (Trends in Euphausiids off Mawson, Predators, and Oceanography), conducted on RV Investigator from February to March 2021 (IN2021_V01, CSIRO Marine National Facility). The primary goal of TEMPO was to collect data to estimate krill biomass with a view to updating the precautionary catch limit within CCAMLR’s Division 58.4.2-East. It also aimed to increase our understanding of krill habitat to ensure sustainable management, with part focus on phytoplankton populations given they are the main food source for krill. Six north-south transects were conducted from west to east (55-80°E) with each extending from 62 or 63°S to the sea-ice edge. Some transects coincided with the eastern transects of a previous voyage undertaken in 2006 (BROKE-WEST, Nicol, Raymond and Meiners 2010), providing a valuable comparison.Lineage
Progress Code: onGoingNotes
PurposeThis dataset provides the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton taxa throughout the survey region, as determined through analysis of pigment signatures. It also provides integrated chlorophyll a measurements. The aims were to elucidate the drivers that influence phytoplankton populations, and to examine phytoplankton-krill relationships. Pigments samples (1 L) were taken from Niskin bottles, filtered onto 13 mm GF/F filters in a darkened laboratory, then the filters placed in liquid nitrogen for later analysis. Six depths were sampled at each station and always included the near-surface (5-10 m) and the depth of the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), as determined using real-time fluorescence data during downward CTD casts. In total 51 stations were sampled. Pigments were later analysed ashore using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) according to the method of Wright et al. (2010). Chemotaxonomic analysis was undertaken using the software program CHEMTAX (Mackey et al. 1996; Wright et al. 1996) with 7 phytoplankton taxa chosen for analysis based on previous experience (Wright and van den Enden 2000; Wright et al. 2010), including greens, cryptophytes, diatoms 1, diatoms 2, dinoflagellates 1, haptophytes 8 high-iron, and haptophytes 8 low-iron. Hierarchical clustering was undertaken on samples prior to analysis in CHEMTAX to reduce potential errors associated with changes in pigment:chlorophyll a ratios under varying environmental conditions such as light and nutrient availability (Wright et al. 2010). The R-Studio packages cluster and dynamicTreeCut were utilised for clustering, with the dynamic tree cutting method enabling the detection of clusters dependent on their shape rather than the use of a fixed height cut-off (Langfelder et al. 2007; Hayward et al. 2023). The analysis resulted in 8 clusters sharing similar pigments. To cross-check CHEMTAX outputs, light microscopy was undertaken on phytoplankton samples that had been fixed in lugols iodine (1 L), taken at the same sites and depths. Initial pigment:chlorophyll a ratios that were utilised in CHEMTAX are shown in Table 1, and an example of optimised ratios shown for Cluster 1.
Data time period: 2021-02-13 to 2024-03-12
text: westlimit=52; southlimit=-70; eastlimit=83; northlimit=-61
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- DOI : Dataset DOI
- global : AAS_4512_TEMPO_Phytoplankton_Pigments
- global : AAS_4512_KOMBI_2021_Echo
- global : NESP_2017_SRW
- global : NESP_2019_SRW
- global : NESP_2018_SRW
- global : NESP_2016_SRW
- global : NESP_2020_SRW
- global : NESP_2021_SRW
- global : NESP_2022_SRW
- global : NESP_2015_SRW
- global : AAS_4496_SMP_23
- global : voyage_202223090
- global : AAS_4528_Calving_Case_Studies
- global : AAS_4116_Antarctic_fast_ice_long_term_mean_persistence
- global : ADBEX_III_Scans
- global : AAS_4101_ENRICH_IN2019V01_Incubation_Pigments
- global : ADBEX_II_Scans
- global : voyage_202324010
- global : EMAPEX_Macquarie_2018
- global : AAS_4512_TEMPO_zooplankton
- global : AAS_4512_4518_TEMPO_Seabird_Observations
- global : AAS_4556_Adelie_Diet_Mawson_DNA
- global : voyage_202324VT2