BOHYEMIAN-LAB

Phytoplankton Fireworks

This visualization shows the changing populations over the past 15 years of 249 species of phytoplankton found within Narragansett Bay. Plankton are sampled weekly by the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, at a location along the west passage known as “Station 2”. This work was funded by the Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design.
*** Conference: Climate Change in Narragansett Bay: What’s the Story?

*** The University Research Magazine Association

Work Type
Tool

Commercial at RISD Nature Lab
Actionscript 3, HTML, CSS

background

Phytoplankton are tiny, single celled photosynthetic organisms that are responsible for the oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere 3.5 billion years ago that made our life on this planet possible. They generate as much organic material and oxygen as all of the terrestrial plants combined, fueling fisheries production, driving gas exchange between the atmosphere and ocean, and serving as key agents in global climate cycles.

The two main groups of phytoplankton are diatoms and dinoflagellates. Diatoms float suspended in the water column inside tiny, often elaborate clear shells made of silica glass. Dinoflagellates are able to propel themselves through use of their whip-like flagella.
The population dynamics of these microscopic organisms, the relative amounts of different species, as well as abundances overall, have been shifting in the past 50 years as the climate changes, waters warm and cloudiness increases. In Narragansett Bay, the former abundant food source of the annual winter-spring diatom bloom has decreased or disappeared altogether in some years. Dinoflagellates previously dominated in the summer, but now diatoms have replaced them in short, often intense blooms leading to increased hypoxic, or low-oxygen, events in summer months. Understanding and predicting the abundance, distribution and diversity of plankton is critical to predicting their important function in global biogeochemical cycles, as well as helping us to understand and manage our fisheries resources.

QUESTION & Solution

Goal
Correlation btn the climate
change and biological facts
in Narragansett bay

Location & Period
L: Station 2
P: 1972-1996

Data
Climate of the Earth
Climate change of the Earth from 1972~1997

Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton cell counts | N/A

Zooplankton
Annual average catch of above | T-98 Bay Sample Complete data

Fish
Fish and invertebrate catch data | N/A

Visual Metaphor
Fireworks: The bi-weekly population of Phytoplankton pops up based on the 15 years timeline.

Color Code
Four Color Codes were implemented to Phytoplanktons (Diatom, Dinoflagellate, Others, and Uncategorized)