Abstract:
Presented are (a) physical and biological data collected during 158
scientific cruises carried out in the period 1913-1999 and (b) data on
phytoplankton collected in 1994-1999 during cruises of nuclear
icebreakers in the region extending from the Barents Sea to the Kara
Sea. Listed are phytoplankton and zooplankton species of the Arctic
Seas. Ecological and geographic
... characteristics are given to each
individual species. Pictures of live cells illustrate the dominant
species. Based on the pattern of the annual cycle of the plankton
variability, proposed criteria are presented for the quality control
of phytoplankton and zooplankton data. The methods of objective
analysis are used for mapping the distribution of physical and
biological characteristics of the Barents and Kara Seas. Changes in
the plankton community structure between the 1930's, 1950's, and
1990's are discussed. It is demonstrated that observed differences
substantially exceed the error resulting from the use of various
methods for plankton sampling.
The goal of this work was to implement the information of the plankton
communities of the Arctic Seas into the study of the ocean climatic
system. To reach this goal we needed to solve the following problems:
a) develop an electronic plankton database for the Barents and Kara
Seas; b) document the variation in the plankton communities over
periods of time.
Several generations of Russian investigators, observers, and mariners
collected hydrobiologic data in the Arctic Seas during the period
1910-1950. These data represent a basic tool for the study of the
Arctic Seas. Many scientists involved in this research added to their
knowledge, expertise and skill in making marine surveys thanks to the
historic investigations of A. Linko, K. Deryugin, B. Manteifel,
M. Kamshilov, E. Zelikman, and scientists of other generations.
The Atlas was written in Russian and translated
into English. The authors have attempted to retain the
original character of the text as it was translated into
English. It is published in both Russian and English. The
cited website is also accessible in both Russian and
English.
Information to create this metadata was taken from
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/BARPLANK/WWW/HTML/database.html 
