Phytoplankton are primary producers and form the basis of the oceans’ food chains. They contain the pigment chlorophyll-a (chl-a), which they use to create their own food through photosynthesis. We study concentrations of chl-a in phytoplankton to assess primary productivity in our oceans. Changes in productivity are likely to affect food chains and ultimately affect marine biodiversity, including the species we rely on for economic, cultural, or recreational purposes.
This dataset relates to the "Primary productivity" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.
