Background I Data I Publications

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) was first deployed in the north Pacific in summer 1997 as a feasibility study carried out by the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS). CPRs had been deployed for over 70 years in the north Atlantic from Ships-of-Opportunity, currently managed by SAHFOS, providing a wealth of time series data (Reid et al., 2003). In contrast, the open ocean areas of the north Pacific have been historically poorly sampled. Presentations were made at the 1998 annual North Pacific Marine Science Organisation (PICES) meeting and from this followed a recommendation that the CPR be used to address the lack of open ocean plankton data. The cost-effectiveness of ship-of-opportunity sampling, the tried-and-tested nature of the CPR and the growing recognition that zooplankton respond rapidly to climate change and also provide the link between changes in the atmosphere and important upper trophic level populations all provided the impetus for support for CPR sampling.

The first proposal was funded by the North Pacific Marine Research program to collect plankton samples in 2000 and 2001 and a third year, supported by the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), followed on from this. Funding was also obtained in 2002 from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOS) for the transect in the Gulf of Alaska and since then the NPRB has supported the ~6,500km transect running east-west across the north Pacific and the EVOS TC has supported the ~2,500 km north-south Gulf of Alaska transect. From 2000 to 2003 the north-south transect ran from Prince William Sound to California but was modified in 2004, when that ship was withdrawn, to a new transect from 2004 between Cook Inlet and Puget Sound. This transect is now in its 4th year of sampling.

Sampling on the east-west transect was enhanced in 2002 through collaborations with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory Conservation Science (Dr Bill Sydeman) and the Canadian Wildlife Service (Dr Ken Morgan) to make simultaneous observations of marine bird and mammal distributions. In 2004 a CTD was fitted to the CPR to additionally sample the physical environment (temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a as fluorescence).

In 2003 collaborative agreements were set up with the Prince William Sound Science Centre in Valdez and Fisheries and Oceans, Canada (the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, BC) to service and unload the CPRs locally. Initial sample processing is now carried out at IOS and a subset of samples are analysed within a few weeks of the ship’s return so that some data can be available quickly, to give an idea of current conditions. Full, quality controlled data are available within a year of collection.
Although long term funding has not been secured the program is now in its 8th year of sampling and many studies have resulted from the data (see below). The program is overseen by the PICES CPR Advisory Panel and interest and enthusiasm to continue and extend the program is ongoing. The initial support from PICES and the NPMR program has therefore firmly set the foundations of a large scale monitoring program for the north Pacific.

CPR Data available

Data Analysis I Plankton Abundance I Species List I Zooplankton Biomass I Phytoplankton Colour Index

Ten regions which reflect the different oceanographic provinces that are sampled by the two transects have been delineated (e.g. oceanic areas and shelf regions around the north Pacific rim, see Figure). Monthly averages of plankton indices can be calculated for each region, though it should be noted that not all regions have the same intensity of sampling. Data from the current or most recent year are provisional and have not yet been quality controlled – expect these data to change once sample analysis is complete . The following publications contain information on CPR sampling and sample analysis:

Batten, S.D., Clarke, R.A., Flinkman, J., Hays, G.C., John, E.H., John, A.W.G., Jonas, T.J., Lindley, J.A., Stevens, D.P., Walne, A.W. (2003) CPR sampling – The technical background, materials and methods, consistency and comparability. Progress in Oceanography 58, 193-215
Richardson, A.J., Walne, A.W., John, A.W.G., Jonas, T.D., Lindley, J.A., Sims, D.W., Stevens, D., and Witt, M. (2006). Using continuous plankton recorder data. Progr. Oceanogr. 68, 27-74

These web pages do not include all available CPR data – presence/absence data are not included, nor are data from samples in between these 10 regions. All Pacific CPR data are freely available however; for other data enquiries please contact Sonia Batten, soba@sahfos.ac.uk

AKsh Alaskan Shelf AleutSh Aleutian Shelf CoastBC Coastal British Columbia CookIn Cook Inlet NEJap North East Japan Shelf NGoA Northen Gulf of Alaska Offshore BC Offshore British Columbia SouthBerSea Southern Bering Sea WGoA Western Gulf of Alaska WNPacific Western North Pacific

Publications / Material related to the Pacific CPR program

Lindley, J.A., and Batten, S.D. (In review) Distribution and seasonal cycles of decapod crustacean larvae in Continuous Plankton Records from the North Pacific Ocean. Submitted to Journal of the Marine Biological Association, UK.

Mackas, D.L., Batten, S.D., and Trudel, M., (In review) Effects on zooplankton of a warming ocean: recent evidence from the Northeast Pacific. Progress in Oceanography.

Batten, S.D. and Freeland, H.J. (In press). Plankton populations at the bifurcation of the North Pacific Current. Fisheries Oceanography

Kirby, R.R., Lindley, J.A., and Batten, S.D. (in press). Spatial heterogeneity and genetic variation in the copepod Neocalanus cristatus along two transects in the North Pacific sampled by the Continuous Plankton Recorder. Journal of Plankton Research.

Batten, S.D., Hyrenbach, K.D., Sydeman, W.J., Morgan, K.H., Henry, M.F., Yen, P.Y. and Welch, D.W. (2006). Characterising Meso-Marine Ecosystems of the North Pacific. Deep Sea Research II. 53, 270-290.

Batten, S.D and Crawford, W.R. (2005). The influence of coastal origin eddies on oceanic plankton distributions in the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Deep Sea Research II, 52, 991-1009.

Lindley, J.A., Batten, S.D., Coyle, K.O and Pinchuk, A.I. (2004). Regular occurrence of Thysanoessa inspinata (Crustacea: Euphausiacea) in the Gulf of Alaska. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 84, 1033-1037.

Batten, S.D. and Welch, D.W. (2004). Changes in oceanic zooplankton populations in the North-east Pacific associated with the possible climatic regime shift of 1998/1999. Deep Sea Research II, 51, 863-873.

Batten, S.D., Welch, D.W., and Jonas, T. (2003). Latitudinal differences in the duration of development of Neocalanus plumchrus copepodites. Fisheries Oceanography, 12 (3), 201-208.

Welch, D. W. (2000). PICES Climate Change and Carrying Capacity program, MONITOR task team and the CPR initiative. Report of the 1999 MONITOR task team, PICES Report 15

Batten S.D. (2001). Continuous Plankton Measurements in subarctic Pacific. Report of the 2000 MONITOR workshop. PICES Report, 17.

Batten, S.D. and Welch, D.W. (2001) The Continuous Plankton Recorder survey of the north Pacific. Proceedings of the PICES/CoML/IPRC Workshop on Impact of Climate Variability on Observation and Prediction of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Changes in the North Pacific. PICES Report, 18.

Welch, D.W. and Batten, S.D. (2000) Climate Change, Global Warming, and the PICES mandate-- The Need for Improved Monitoring. PICES Press, 8, 24-27.

Freeland, H.J. and Batten, S.D. (2002). The state of the eastern North Pacific since spring 2001. PICES Press, 10, 10-11.