Load Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) plankton data from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). The CPR is a high-speed plankton sampler that is towed behind ships of opportunity at approximately 10 metres depth. Samples are collected continuously along transects, providing broad-scale spatial coverage.

pr_get_CPRData(Type = "Phytoplankton", Variable = "abundance", Subset = "raw")

Arguments

Type

The data of interest: "Phytoplankton" or "Zooplankton"

Variable

Variable options are:

  • "abundance" - Cell or individual counts (available for both phytoplankton and zooplankton)

  • "biovolume" - Cell biovolume in cubic micrometres (phytoplankton only)

Subset

Data compilation level:

  • "raw" - Raw taxonomic data as identified by analysts

  • "htg" - Higher taxonomic groups (e.g., diatoms, dinoflagellates, copepods)

  • "genus" - Data aggregated to genus level

  • "species" - Data aggregated to species level

  • "copepods" - Copepod data only (zooplankton only)

Value

A dataframe with requested plankton data in long form. Each row represents a taxon observation in a sample, with columns for metadata (location, date, time) and abundance or biovolume values.

Details

The CPR samples plankton organisms in the 200-500 micrometre size range. Unlike NRS data which are point samples, CPR data represent integrated samples over approximately 3 nautical miles. The data are returned in long format.

CPR sampling occurs both day and night as ships operate continuously. Consider using pr_get_DayNight() to examine diel patterns in the data.

Note: Biovolume data is only available for phytoplankton.

See also

pr_get_NRSData() for National Reference Station data, pr_get_Indices() for derived ecological indices, pr_add_Bioregions() to assign samples to bioregions

Examples

# Get raw phytoplankton abundance data
df <- pr_get_CPRData(Type = "Phytoplankton", Variable = "abundance", Subset = "raw")

# Get zooplankton data at species level
df <- pr_get_CPRData(Type = "Zooplankton", Variable = "abundance", Subset = "species")

# Get higher taxonomic group data
df <- pr_get_CPRData(Type = "Phytoplankton", Variable = "abundance", Subset = "htg")