NRC Harmful Phytoplankton Monitoring Project - Graves Shoal

This long-term project (1996-2006) was carried out by the National Research Council of Canada with the cooperation of Dalhousie University Oceanography Department with additional funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Aquanet. The goals were to determine the distribution of harmful phytoplankton, to monitor for novel toxins and identify their planktonic origin, to investigate methods for the early detection of toxic algal blooms and to evaluate and improve monitoring strategies by developing and implementing new technology.

Phytoplankton samples were collected at regular intervals at two Nova Scotian aquaculture sites at Grave’s Shoal (1996-1998) and Ship Harbour (1998-2006). Samples were collected for phytoplankton profiles and phytotoxin analysis. Associated physicochemical and optical sensing data were collected concurrently to monitor the occurrence of harmful algae blooms. Harmful species responsible for the production of PSP (paralytic shellfish poisoning), DSP (diarrhetic shellfish poisoning), ASP (amnesic shellfish poisoning) and spirolides were enumerated and correlated with toxin concentrations. Clonal isolates were established from net tow samples that contained toxic species. Only the pipe sample phytoplankton profile data is included in this data set.

Sampling was conducted at one site on Graves Shoal. Plankton samples were collected using either a pipe sampler or a net to sample the entire water column.

Plankton samples were transported on ice back to the lab for analysis including qualitative taxonomy of dinoflagellates and diatoms. Two common toxic dinoflagellates known to co-occur in this area are Alexandrium tamarense and A. ostenfeldii. These two species cannot be distinguished with a light microscope. Confirmational genetic analysis was conducted to provide an estimate of their abundance ratios however in this dataset the two species were combined.

This OBIS collection contains species distribution information from the Graves Shoal sampling area.

本长期项目（1996-2006年）由加拿大国家研究委员会（National Research Council of Canada）联合达尔豪西大学海洋学系实施，加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会（Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada，NSERC）及Aquanet提供额外资助。项目目标为：明确有害浮游植物的分布特征，监测新型藻毒素并确定其浮游生物来源，研发有毒藻华早期检测技术，同时通过开发与应用新技术评估并优化现有监测策略。

研究人员于新斯科舍省两处水产养殖站点——格雷夫浅滩（Graves Shoal，1996-1998年）与希普港（Ship Harbour，1998-2006年）——定期采集浮游植物样品，用于浮游植物群落组成分析与藻毒素检测。同步采集配套的物理化学与光学传感数据，以监测有害藻华的发生情况。对可产生麻痹性贝类中毒（paralytic shellfish poisoning，PSP）、腹泻性贝类中毒（diarrhetic shellfish poisoning，DSP）、失忆性贝类中毒（amnesic shellfish poisoning，ASP）及螺环内酯毒素（spirolides）的有害藻类物种进行计数，并将计数结果与毒素浓度进行关联分析。从含有毒物种的拖网样品中建立克隆分离株。本数据集仅包含采水管样品的浮游植物群落组成数据。

本次采样仅在格雷夫浅滩的一处站点开展，采用采水管采样器或拖网采集全水柱浮游生物样品。

浮游生物样品置于冰上运回实验室，开展包括甲藻与硅藻定性分类在内的相关分析。该区域常见的两种共发生有毒甲藻为塔玛亚历山大藻（Alexandrium tamarense）与奥氏亚历山大藻（A. ostenfeldii），二者无法通过光学显微镜区分。本研究曾通过确认性遗传分析估算二者的丰度占比，但本数据集将两种物种合并统计。

本海洋生物地理信息系统（Ocean Biogeographic Information System，OBIS）数据集包含格雷夫浅滩采样区域的物种分布信息。