The Helgoland Roads time-series, located at the island of Helgoland in the German Bight, approximately 60 km off the German mainland (54 11'N 7 54'E), is one of the richest temporal marine datasets available. The data set comprises a phytoplankton time series (started in 1962 and sampled daily) and a zooplankton time series (started in 1975 and sampled three times a week) along with time series for inorganic nutrients, salinity and temperature and several shorter time series (e.g. Chlorophyll and other data from ferrybox systems).

The high sampling frequency of the Helgoland Roads time series has provided a unique opportunity to study long-term trends in abiotic and biotic parameters, but also ecological phenomena, such as seasonal interactions between different food web components, niche properties, and the dynamics and timing of the spring bloom. It has also facilitated close examination of the dynamics of new species appearing in the local ecosystem.