AusCPR
Anita Slotwinksi - Plankton Biologist, AusCPR
Brisbane
The Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder (AusCPR) Survey is a
joint project of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) and
the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) to measure plankton
communities as a guide to the health of Australia's oceans. The
AusCPR Survey is part of the Integrated Marine Observing System
(IMOS), a national collaborative program to observe Australia's
marine environments. IMOS is funded by the Commonwealth Department
of Education, Science and Training.
The aims of the AusCPR survey are to:
- map plankton biodiversity and distribution
- develop the first long-term plankton baseline for Australian
waters
- document plankton changes in response to climate change
- provide indices for fisheries management
- detect harmful algal blooms
- validate satellite remote sensing
- initialise and test ecosystem models
Servicing and maintenance of the CPRs and analysis of the samples
for the AusCPR survey will be carried out by staff based at the
CMAR laboratories in Dutton Park, Brisbane and Floreat, Perth, and
at the Australian Antarctic Division in Hobart. The dataset will be
made freely available according to the IMOS data policy and should
provide researchers and policy makers with environmental and
climatic indicators on harmful algal blooms, eutrophication,
pollution, climate change and fisheries.
Australia is unique in being bounded by warm-water
poleward-flowing currents off both east (the east Australian
Current, EAC) and west (Leeuwin Current) coasts. Although this
results in generally low plankton and fisheries productivity,
diversity is high and has affinities with the diverse tropical taxa
of the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. AusCPR is currently
observing the plankton along several routes using Continuous
Plankton Recorders.
The EAC route extends from Brisbane (Queensland, latitude 27oS)
to Adelaide (South Australia, latitude 34oS) down the east coast of
Australia and follows the southward-flowing warm-water east
Australian Current. This region is forecast to warm more than
anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere this century. This
CSIRO-run route is towed bi-monthly by a commercial ANL vessel
whose generous support is critical to the operation. Other routes
are run by the CSIRO lab including the east coast of Tasmania and
the cross Tasman to New Zealand.
The other set of routes are conducted between Australia and
Antarctica in collaboration with the SCAR Southern Ocean CPR
(SO-CPR) Survey led by the Australian Antarctic Division DEWHA
since 1991. Tows are conducted on voyages of the RSV Aurora
Australis. The Australian tows combine with tows from 14 other
countries within the SO-CPR consortium producing a near
circum-Antarctic survey. This provides access to plankton data
beyond Australia helping to understand observed changes in a wider
regional and global context.
The AusCPR Survey program will ensure that we monitor the
long-term health of our oceans by listening to its biological
heartbeat - the changes in the plankton.
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IMOS AusCPR and SO-CPR samples June 2009 to November
2011
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