Zooplankton Taxonomic Workshop
Zooplankton Taxonomic Workshop
Stradbroke Island
6-11 December 2009
From the 6-11 December 2009, the AusCPR team hosted a Zooplankton Taxonomic Workshop at the UQ Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia. The Workshop was designed to increase the participants’ skills in the taxonomic identification of zooplankton, whilst enhancing networks within the Australian zooplankton research community.
Three overseas presenters were carefully selected based on their interactive teaching style, and their expertise over a wide range of zooplankton taxa. The Workshop had short theory sessions on each zooplankton group, followed by longer practical microscope sessions to identify specimens from tropical to polar waters and encompassing estuarine, coastal and oceanic habitats. This was also an ideal opportunity for participants to identify specimens from their own samples under the guidance of experts, and to see plankton that they have never seen before.
Morning sessions were dedicated to the copepods, the dominant zooplankton group globally. Janet Bradford-Grieve from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, gave informative sessions on the taxonomy, identification techniques, and use of keys for the calanoid copepods. Dave McKinnon from the Australian Institution of Marine Science demonstrated dissection and mounting techniques, and provided insights into species identification of the cyclopoid copepods, a particularly challenging group.
Dave Conway from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK, and Mark Gibbons from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, gave sessions on the non copepod zooplankton taxa, including amphipods, chaetognaths, cladocerans, decapods, doliolids, euphausiids, jellyfish, larvaceans, molluscs and salps. These groups have immense ecological importance in terms of nutrient cycling and food for higher trophic levels, but are often overlooked in zooplankton work because of their poor preservation in samples (e.g. jellyfish) or taxonomic difficulty (e.g. decapod larvae). Presenters provided some fantastic taxonomic information, which will allow participants to tackle these groups in the future.
Participants came from all over Australia and are researching a variety of different aspects of zooplankton ecology. Many have been working with zooplankton for a number of years (some had >40 years experience) and were keen to hone their identification skills and learn about groups they had not previously focused on. Others were students with more specific taxonomic requirements to identify samples collected for their research projects. All participants were excited and enthused by the amount they learned during the Workshop. The Workshop also helped to forge new relationships and cement older ones throughout the Australian zooplankton research community. Ideas of collaboration and further training were discussed for the near future.
The AusCPR team would like thank all presenters, participants, the UQ Moreton Bay Research Station and Leica Microsystems for making the workshop both successful and enjoyable. A strong component of its success was the excellence of the microscopes and logistical support generously provided by Leica Microsystems. The continued support of IMOS, CSIRO and the AAD are always appreciated.