Creating a modern database from archive material - The Norman Holme archive: Interpretation of marine field research notebooks in the historical context of the MBA, 1958-83

This document provides details of the transfer of the Norman Holme archive data held in the National Marine Biological Library onto a modern database, specifically Marine Recorder. A key part in the creation of the database was the retrieval of a large amount of information recorded in field notebooks and on loosely-bound sheets of paper. As this work involved amending, interpreting and updating the available information, it was felt that an accurate record of this process should exist to allow scientists of the future to be able to clearly link the modern database to the archive material. This document also provides details of external information sources that were used to enhance and qualify the historical interpretation, such as estimating volumes and species abundances.

Continuous Plankton Records - Phytoplankton Zooplankton And Environment Northeast Atlantic And North-Sea 1958-1980

Year-to-year fluctuations in the abundance of phytoplankton in the North-East Atlantic and the North Sea for the period 1958 to 1980 are described. Based on similarities between their annual fluctuations in abundance, the taxa may be divided into two groups, one of 12 species of diatoms and 1 species of Ceratium, the other of 5 species of Ceratium. The annual fluctuations in abundance of the Ceratium group is negatively correlated with a component of sea surface temperature (representing changes in the open ocean) and with the frequency of cyclonic weather over the United Kingdom. The Diatom group shows very similar annual fluctuations to those of most of the zooplankton species. Both groups show a high ·proportion of long wavelength variability in the form of a more less linear downward trend in abundance over the whole period. There is evidence to suggest that the high proportion of long wavelength variability shown by the zooplankton is influenced by inherent persistence in stocks from year-to year. The phytoplankton show little or no persistence. The close relationship between zooplankton and phytoplankton may, therefore, involve feed-back through nutrient recycling so influencing the annual levels of abundance of phytoplankton.

Spatial and inter-decadal variability in plankton abundance and composition in the Northwest Atlantic (1958-2006)

The results of Continuous Plankton Recorder sampling in the NW Atlantic between 1958 and 2006 are presented for 11 plankton taxa in eight shelf and deep ocean regions. For shelf regions, phytoplankton abundances increased in the early 1990s, mainly in winter, as the contribution of Arctic-derived freshwater to the Newfoundland (NLS) and Scotian shelves (SS) increased. Farther east, in the sub-polar gyre, phytoplankton levels increased with rising temperatures during the 1990s and 2000s. In both areas, the changes can be explained by increased stratification. The increased influx of arctic water to the NLS in the 1990s was also probably directly responsible for the increased abundances of two arctic Calanus species (C. glacialis and C. hyperboreus) and indirectly responsible for the decreased abundance of Calanus I–IV (mainly C. finmarchicus), perhaps via changes in food composition. On the SS the arctic Calanus species increased in abundance in the 2000s, likely as the result of increased transport from the Arctic via the Gulf of St Lawrence. In the deep ocean, plankton seasonal cycles changed little over the decades and increasing phytoplankton levels in the 2000s were accompanied by increases in zooplankton abundance, suggesting bottom-up control. In shelf regions, phytoplankton increases in the 1990s were in winter and Calanus I–IV appeared earlier in spring than in previous decades. Zooplankton levels generally did not change overall however, perhaps because the species examined were mainly inactive during winter.