A registry of Phytoplankton diversity in Faroese Shelf waters: Combining results from the Faroese Marine Ecosystem Observing Study (FAMEOS) with historical records

The Faroese Marine Ecosystem Observing Study (FAMEOS) was a project funded by Granskingar raðið that had the overall aim of enhancing measurements and understanding of plankton diversity in Faroese waters through the application of environmental DNA. In order to achieve this one of the sub-objectives was to make comparisons between traditional morphological based taxonomy and DNA-based metabarcoding. The present technical report summarizes what has been learnt about phytoplankton diversity on the Faroese Shelf through the FAMEOS microscope count dataset.

The FAMEOS dataset provides the first systematic report of phytoplankton diversity based on samples analysed from the central Shelf (Skopun) between 2018-2020. A comparison was made between taxa registered as part of FAMEOS and historical information collated from literature, acknolwedging no database previously existed for phytoplankton observations in the Faroe Islands. FAMEOS increased the record of diatom genera from 25 to 39 (156% increase) and diatom species from 33 to 54 (164% increase). Similarly, records of dinoflagellate genera increased from 16 to 21 (131% increase) and dinoflagellate species from 17 to 29 (171% increase). Only one genus and 2 species of silicoflagellates were identified. New taxonomic records chlorophytes (1 genus, 3 species) and ciliates (14 genera, 3 species) were generated.

A database infrastructure was designed to integrate micrscope count data generated during FAMEOS into the existing Havstovan database architecture providing a standardized method for archiving phytoplankton taxonomic data that will serve future projects. Additionally, an image gallery has been generated that is intended to serve as a taxonomic guide for future observations in adddition to constraining morphological characteristics for biomass calculations.