IGMETS Target Variables

The table below summarizes the marine ecological variables targeted for our first report.  If your site has any of these variables (beyond just temperature and salinity), it can participate in the IGMETS study.  A "zooplankton only" site can still contribute significantly to the zooplankton studies, for example.

Please note that only the "Hydrographic Variables" and "Plankton Variables" are currently slated for the common analysis.  The "Expanded Variable Set" will be noted in the metadata database but may or may not be included (in the data analysis) depending on how many sites sample these variables and/or procedural/method complexities of using and inter-comparing them. 

 Hydrographic Variables

  1. Dissolved Oxygen
  2. Inorganic Nutrients:  nitrate, nitrite, silicate, phosphate
  3. DIC:  pH, alkalinity, pCO2, TCO2
  4. Chlorophyll-a
  5. Temperature & Salinity

 Expanded Variables *

  1. Nitrogen:  NH4, TON, DON, PON
  2. Phosphorus:  Tot-P, DOP, POP
  3. Carbon:  DOC, POC
  4. Primary Productivity (assorted methods)

 Plankton Variables (as "counts" or "biomass" or both)

  1. Total Bacteria
  2. Total Filamentous Bacteria
  3. Total Synechococcus
  4. Total Prochlorococcus
  5. Total Diatoms
  6. Total Dinoflagellates  (either as a single sum value or as separate "colored" and "colorless" values)
  7. Total Coccolithophores
  8. Total Radiolaria
  9. Total Foraminifera
  10. Total Ciliates
  11. Total Copepods or Total Zooplankton (abundance)
  12. Total Zooplankton Biomass (as any of wet mass, dry mass, carbon, displacement volume, or settled volume)

The plankton variables above are designed for ease of intercomparison between multiple sites with different taxonomic resolutions.  Some time series sites may identify all species of diatoms present while others may identify only to major groups or as a single group total.  By looking at "Total Diatoms", we can compare general trends across many sites.  IGMETS will be happy to assist you in combining and summing your data (at any taxonomic level) into these groups for the analysis.  (Let us do the work for you.)