Description Gridded abundance map representing total dinoflagellates in the North Atlantic and North Sea between 1958 and 2012. Phytoplankton organisms are responsible for about 45% of annual global photosynthesis. They are as such vital for the functioning of marine food webs (considered in MSFD descriptor 4) and are the main drivers of the global biogeochemical cycles. This product was developed with DIVA (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis) and the scale represents log-transformed abundance. Data was provided by SAHFOS (Continuous Plankton Recorder survey).
Citation: European Marine Observation Data Network (EMODnet) Biology project (www.emodnet-biology.eu), funded by the European Commission’s Directorate - General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE).