Continuous plankton recorder

Edinburgh, Oceanographic Laboratory, 1973. Continuous plankton records a plankton atlas of the North Atlantic and the North Sea. Bull. Mar. Ecol., 7 1-74. 

CliC CLIVAR CLRTAP CM CO COADS COLA COP CORP CPI CPL CPR CRC CRF CRP CRS CSD CSIRO Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project CLImate VARiability and predictability Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Climate Model Carbon monoxide Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set Center of the Ocean-Land-Atmosphere system study Conference of the Parties Chinese Ozone Research Program Consumer Price Index Cloud Physics Lidar Continuous Plankton Recorder program Chemical Rubber Company Cloud Radiative Forcing Conservation Reserve Program Cloud Radar System Commission on Sustainable Development Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research... 

Abstract Monitoring of Phaeocystis since 1948 during the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey indicates that over the last 5.5 decades the distribution of its colonies in the North Atlantic Ocean was not restricted to neritic waters occurrence was also recorded in the open Atlantic regions sampled, most frequently in the spring. Apparently, environmental conditions in open ocean waters, also those far offshore, are suitable for complete lifecycle development of colonies (the only stage recorded in the survey). 

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey consists of a dense network of transects across the North Atlantic and the North Sea. Plankton recorders are towed on a monthly basis at a depth of 8-10 m from ships-of-oppportunity that travel at 10-18 knots. The sampling mechanism inside the recorders consists of a narrow band of filtering silk (mesh 270 pm) that is driven by an impeller at the rear of the recorder at a speed adjusted according to the speed of the ship. The silk catches particles entering the 12 mm2 aperture while it passes (at a rate of 10 cm per 10 nautical miles, 18.5 km) through the end of a wide tunnel behind the narrow opening in front. About 3 m3... 

Fig. 1 (a) Standard areas of the continuous plankton recorder survey. (b)Distribution of Phaeocystis colonies over the North Atlantic and the North Sea over the years 1948-2003. Annual variations see Fig. 2... 

Colebrook JM (1975) The continuous plankton recorder survey automatic data processing methods. Bull Mar Ecol 8 123-142... 

Colebrook JM, Robinson GA (1964) Continuous plankton records annual variability of plankton, 1948-1960. Bull Mar Ecol 6 52-69... 

Gieskes WWC, Kraay GW (1977a) Continuous plankton records changes in the plankton of the North Sea and its eutrophic Southern Bight from 1948 to 1975. Neth J Sea Res 11 334-364... 

Glover RS (1967) The continuous plankton recorder survey of the North Atlantic. Symp Zool Soc Lond 19 189-210... 

Reid PC, Colebrook JM, Matthews JBL, Aiken J (2003) Continuous plankton recorder concepts and history, from plankton indicator to undulating recorders. Prog Oceanogr 58 117-173... 

TTHE PLANKTON OF THE SEAS AND OCEANS adjacent to the British Isles have been studied for over 50 years with the continuous plankton recorder (CPR) (i). Continuous plankton recorders are towed at a fixed depth of 10 m at monthly intervals by ships-of-opportunity (merchant ships and weather ships) on standard routes. They retain the plankton on a mechanically propelled, continuously advancing band of silk for subsequent laboratory analysis (2). A few CPRs have carried temperature recorders and sensors for other environmental parameters (3, 4). 

Edtvards, M. (2003). Use of Continuous Plankton Recorder information in support of marine management applications in fisheries, environmental protection, and the study of ecosystem response to environmental change. Progress in Oceanography, 58 175-191. 

Lindley, J. A., Reid, P. C. and Brander, K. M. (2003). Inverse relationship between cod recruitment in the North Sea and young fish in the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey. Scientia Marina, 67 191-200. 

Stevens, D., Richardson, A. J. and Reid, P. C. (2006). Continuous Plankton Recorder database evolution, current uses and future directions. Marine Ecology -Progress Series, 316 247-255. 

An independent, continuous and longer record of the initial value for atmospheric has been obtained by dating planktonic... 

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