Consistency of Towing Speed and Sampling Depth for the Continuous Plankton Recorder

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Abstract
The mean annual towing speed of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) varied systematically between 1946 and 1991. By mounting a pressure transducer on the CPR to record towing depth, it was shown, however, that changes in towing speed did not cause a significant change in towing depth, although the mean towing depth (6–7 m, SD=l-7 m, N=77) was shallower than the previously assumed towing depth of 10 m. Thus the observed changes in towing speed are unlikely to have caused discontinuities in the CPR time-series by affecting sampling depth. Long-term data sets play an important role in attempts to understand the causes of fluctua- tions in plankton abundance. The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey provides multi- decadal information on plankton abundance in the North Sea and North Atlantic (McGowan, 1990), and is one of the longest standing marine plankton abundance time-series. However, while the CPR time-series has great potential, as with all other data sets spanning many years, questions may be asked regarding the consistency with which the data have been collected and hence the true continuity of the time-series.

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