2006-2009 Phytoplankton data collected in the Mississippi River Navigation Pools 8, 13, and 26

The dimensions of each organism were measured with a Whipple grid and the biovolume was estimated using the simplest geometric shape (e.g., cylinder, cone, sphere, etc.) that best fit the shape of each taxon. Shapes were assigned according to Hillebrand et al. (1999). Biovolume was calculated for the first five organisms/counting units of each taxon identified in a sample. The average biovolume was then used to calculate total biovolume of each taxon in the sample.