Photosynthesis–irradiance parameters of marine phytoplankton: synthesis of a global data set

The photosynthetic performance of marine phytoplankton varies in response to a variety of factors, environmental and taxonomic. One of the aims of the MArine primary Production: model Parameters from Space (MAPPS) project of the European Space Agency is to assemble a global database of photosynthesis–irradiance (P-E) parameters from a range of oceanographic regimes as an aid to examining the basin-scale variability in the photophysiological response of marine phytoplankton and to use this information to improve the assignment of P-E parameters in the estimation of global marine primary production using satellite data. The MAPPS P-E database, which consists of over 5000 P-E experiments, provides information on the spatio-temporal variability in the two P-E parameters (the assimilation number, PmB, and the initial slope, αB, where the superscripts B indicate normalisation to concentration of chlorophyll) that are fundamental inputs for models (satellite-based and otherwise) of marine primary production that use chlorophyll as the state variable. Quality-control measures consisted of removing samples with abnormally high parameter values and flags were added to denote whether the spectral quality of the incubator lamp was used to calculate a broad-band value of αB. The MAPPS database provides a photophysiological data set that is unprecedented in number of observations and in spatial coverage. The database will be useful to a variety of research communities, including marine ecologists, biogeochemical modellers, remote-sensing scientists and algal physiologists. The compiled data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.874087 (Bouman et al., 2017).Fil: Bouman, Heather A.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Platt, Trevor. Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Reino UnidoFil: Doblin, Martina. Plant Functional Biology And Climate Change Cluster; AustraliaFil: Figueiras, Francisco G.. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas; EspañaFil: Gudmundsson, Kristinn. Marine Research Institute; IslandiaFil: Gudfinnsson, Hafsteinn G.. Marine Research Institute; IslandiaFil: Huang, Bangqin. State Key Laboratory Of Marine Environmental Science/ke; ChinaFil: Hickman, Anna. University Of Southampton,Ocean And Earth Science; Reino UnidoFil: Hiscock, Michael. United States Environmental Protection Agency; Estados UnidosFil: Jackson, Thomas. Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Reino UnidoFil: Lutz, Vivian Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Subsede Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero; ArgentinaFil: Mélin, Frédéric. European Commission. Joint Research Centre; ItaliaFil: Rey, Francisco. University of Oslo; NoruegaFil: Pepin, Pierre. Fisheries And Oceans Canada; CanadáFil: Segura, Valeria. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones y Desarrollo Pesquero; ArgentinaFil: Tilstone, Gavin H.. Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Reino UnidoFil: van Dongen Vogels, Virginie. Plant Functional Biology And Climate Change Cluster; AustraliaFil: Sathyendranath, Shubha. Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Reino Unid