Phytoplankton communities that fuel marine food webs are undergoing profound changes as a consequence of climate change. This has implications for food provisioning, tourism, the economy and human health. Improved management and decision support tools are needed to predict how phytoplankton are likely to respond to changing environmental conditions in the future.
The Cli-PhI project is a collaboration between ATU and the Marine Institute that will build cross-disciplinary national capacity in the analysis and interpretation of data collected through phytoplankton monitoring programmes. The project brings together experts in ecology, statistics, harmful algal blooms and oceanography to build comprehensive understanding of spatial and temporal patterns in phytoplankton abundance, diversity, and distribution in Irish coastal waters. The Marine Institute’s involvement is led by Dr David Clarke, Section Manager of the Shellfish Safety section at Marine Institute. Project outputs will advise management and policy regarding potential future changes in phytoplankton communities and implications for sustainable aquaculture and will inform strategies for future phytoplankton monitoring programmes as part of climate-change mitigation plans.
The Cli-PhI project is funded through a post-doctoral fellowship (Grant-Aid Agreement No. PDOC/23/08/03) and is carried out with the support of the Marine Institute under the Marine Research Programme, and funded by the Government of Ireland.
