European Ocean Biodiversity Information System

The KPLANK database includes data on phytoplankton, covering the Finnish coastal areas as well as the offshore areas of the Baltic Sea. The quantitative data mainly stem from the Finnish national monitoring program and statutory monitoring programs. In total the database contain approximately 240 000 quantitative records including size classes. In this dataset biomasses and carbon content are provided per taxon, i.e. size classes are not included. Size class data are available from the data provider upon request. In phytoplankton monitoring it is in some cases necessary to use practical identification units, which are not strict taxonomical units and therefore lack an AphiaID, to record what has been found in the sample. Such practical identification units are used for recording cells that cannot be distinguished to a more specific taxonomic level with the methods used in phytoplankton monitoring (i.e. light microscopic analysis of preserved samples).The data available through EMODnet should not be used as is for phytoplankton community analyses, as the dataset only include taxonomic units with a valid AphiaID. Practical identification units, which are not strict taxonomical units and therefore lack an AphiaID, include e.g. the very common spring bloom dinoflagellates collectively termed the Scrippsiella complex and unidentified single nano-sized coccoid cells (i.e. cells lacking flagella). For analyses of phytoplankton communities it is thus recommended to contact the data provider. All original data from KPLANK database, including these results are available from the data provider upon request. The data span from 1963 to present. The database is regularly maintained and data is added continuously.