Standard Presentation Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting 2023

Plankton observing around Australia in the Anthropocene (#32)

Anthony J Richardson 1 2 , Claire H Davies 3 , Frank Coman 1 , Ruth S Eriksen 3 , Jason D Everett 4 , Felicity R McEnnulty 3 , Julian Palomino-Uribe 1 , Sarah Pausina 1 , Wayne Rochester 1 , Anita Slotwinski 1 , Mark L Tonks 1
  1. CSIRO Environment, ., Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  2. School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  3. CSIRO Environment, ., Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  4. School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Plankton play a critical role in the structure and functioning of marine food webs. They provide nearly half the primary production on Earth, constitute 50% of the biomass in marine systems, are key members of the carbon pump, are the basis for most marine food webs even in coastal regions, and are sensitive to ecosystem changes in the Anthropocene. Sampling plankton – both phytoplankton and zooplankton – is a key element of the biological component of the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). It comprises two parts: the seven National Reference Stations for phytoplankton and zooplankton, and the Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder (AusCPR) survey, along the east and south coasts of Australia and the Southern Ocean. Here we describe the extensive and varied uses of the plankton data collected by IMOS, including testing ecological theory, illustrating the role plankton indicators have played in ecosystem assessments, highlighting the importance of plankton in modelling initiatives, and summarising plankton variation in response to global change over the past nearly 15 years of IMOS.