The Australian Phytoplankton Database (1844 - 2016) - abundance and biovolume (SUPERSEDED BY ONGOING COLLECTION)

There have been many individual phytoplankton datasets collected across Australia since the mid 1900s, but most are unavailable to the research community. We have searched archives, contacted researchers, and scanned the primary and grey literature to collate 3,665,221 records of marine phytoplankton species from Australian waters from 1844 to the present. Many of these are small datasets collected for local questions, but combined they provide over 170 years of data on phytoplankton communities in Australian waters. Units and taxonomy have been standardised, obviously erroneous data removed, and all metadata included. We have lodged this dataset with the Australian Ocean Data Network (http://imos.aodn.org.au/), allowing public access. The Australian Phytoplankton Database will be invaluable for global change studies, as it allows analysis of ecological indicators of climate change and eutrophication (e.g., changes in distribution; diatom:dinoflagellate ratios). In addition, the standardised conversion of abundance records to biomass provides modellers with quantifiable data to initialise and validate ecosystem models of lower marine trophic levels. This is a static snapshot of the database as at March 2016. To access subsequent additions in a dynamic database, please refer to the following metadata record https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au:443/geonetwork/srv/api/records/75f4f1fc-bee3-4498-ab71-aa1ab29ab2c0

Data and Resources

Map preview

See this dataset in the Digital Twin Victoria

Additional Information

Field Value
Published (Metadata Record) 03/03/2026
Last updated 04/03/2026
Organisation Australian Federal Government
License License Not Specified
Update Frequency Unknown