Project Information

Title: LTM Program: Continuous Plankton Recorder monitoring of plankton populations on the Alaskan Shelf 18120114-D

Project Year and Number: 2018: 18120114-D

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2024: 24120114-D , 2023: 23120114-D , 2022: 22120114-D , 2021: 21120114-D, 2020: 20120114-D, 2019: 19120114-D, 2017: 17120114-D, 2016: 16120114-A, 2015: 15120114-A, 2014: 14120114-A, 2013: 13120114-A, 2012: 12120114-A

Principal Investigator (PI): Sonia Batten (Marine Biological Association)

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://gulfwatchalaska.org/monitoring/environmental-drivers/continuous-plankton-recorder/

Research Location: Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Not Specified

Abstract:

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) transect samples the Alaskan shelf from lower Cook Inlet across the slope into the open Gulf of Alaska, providing a 17 year record of taxonomically resolved, seasonal, near-surface zooplankton and large phytoplankton abundance over a wide spatial scale. Sampling takes place approximately monthly, six times per year, usually between April and September. Outputs from the project include indices of plankton abundance (e.g., large diatom abundances, estimated zooplankton biomass), seasonal cycles (phenology of key groups) and community composition (e.g., appearance of warm water species, change in dominance by some groups). Variability in any, or all, of these indices might be expected to flow-through to higher trophic levels such as herring, salmon, birds and mammals that forage across the region, some which have been impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Recent results show that interannaul variability in plankton dynamics is high and plankton responded clearly and rapidly to the recent warm conditions, with changes evident in abundance, composition and timing. We are not proposing any major changes to this project for FY18.


Proposal: View (305 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY18: View (459 KB)
Final Report: See Project 21120114-D

Publications from this Project: None Available