Plankton*Net
Plankton observations, images and species knowledge gathered by the project community.
Overview
PLANKTON*NET is an open biodiversity resource dedicated to the diversity, taxonomy and identification of marine and freshwater plankton. Developed through an international scientific collaboration and hosted for many years by the Alfred Wegener Institute, it brings together images, observations, taxonomic information and scientific collections covering phytoplankton and zooplankton from different regions of the world.
From its beginnings, PLANKTON*NET was conceived as more than an image archive. It provides a framework in which observations and images are connected with taxonomic knowledge, collection information and their scientific context, helping researchers, students and other users explore and identify plankton organisms. Its collaborative approach has allowed contributions from different institutions and individual researchers while preserving the provenance of the material and the identity of its contributors.
PLANKTON*NET also represents an important historical record of plankton research. Its collections include material originating from long-term observations, research cruises, monitoring programmes and individual scientific contributions. By keeping images connected to observations and their associated information, these collections document both biological diversity and the scientific work through which that diversity has been observed.
The integration of PLANKTON*NET into mybiOSis opens a new chapter in the project. Existing collections and their scientific context will be preserved while becoming part of a broader biodiversity information environment built around observations, media, taxonomy and contributors. This provides a foundation for bringing historical material together with new observations and for gradually extending the collections with contemporary data.
Within the kladOS platform of the mybiOSis ecosystem, PLANKTON*NET data can also become connected with other applications, tools and data resources already available within the ecosystem, as well as with new ones developed in the future. This creates opportunities to explore and use the collections in new contexts, combine them with other biodiversity information, and develop new workflows for research, identification, data analysis and communication. At the same time, bringing PLANKTON*NET into this shared environment can open new paths for participation and collaboration, allowing its collections and accumulated knowledge to contribute to new projects and scientific questions.
Rather than becoming a static archive, PLANKTON*NET will continue as a living resource for documenting, exploring and sharing the diversity of plankton — while providing a foundation for new uses, connections and collaborations.
From its beginnings, PLANKTON*NET was conceived as more than an image archive. It provides a framework in which observations and images are connected with taxonomic knowledge, collection information and their scientific context, helping researchers, students and other users explore and identify plankton organisms. Its collaborative approach has allowed contributions from different institutions and individual researchers while preserving the provenance of the material and the identity of its contributors.
PLANKTON*NET also represents an important historical record of plankton research. Its collections include material originating from long-term observations, research cruises, monitoring programmes and individual scientific contributions. By keeping images connected to observations and their associated information, these collections document both biological diversity and the scientific work through which that diversity has been observed.
The integration of PLANKTON*NET into mybiOSis opens a new chapter in the project. Existing collections and their scientific context will be preserved while becoming part of a broader biodiversity information environment built around observations, media, taxonomy and contributors. This provides a foundation for bringing historical material together with new observations and for gradually extending the collections with contemporary data.
Within the kladOS platform of the mybiOSis ecosystem, PLANKTON*NET data can also become connected with other applications, tools and data resources already available within the ecosystem, as well as with new ones developed in the future. This creates opportunities to explore and use the collections in new contexts, combine them with other biodiversity information, and develop new workflows for research, identification, data analysis and communication. At the same time, bringing PLANKTON*NET into this shared environment can open new paths for participation and collaboration, allowing its collections and accumulated knowledge to contribute to new projects and scientific questions.
Rather than becoming a static archive, PLANKTON*NET will continue as a living resource for documenting, exploring and sharing the diversity of plankton — while providing a foundation for new uses, connections and collaborations.
Plankton*Net
Latest observations
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Explore a collection
Mediterranean, NITROALBORAN Project IEO
Albums
Needs identification
Undetermined observations from the community will appear here.
Species spotlight
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A recently observed species and its taxonomic details will appear here.
Glossary
Agialophyta: plante de litoral sau plaje nisipoase
Network and partners
The planktonnet community is a large network of users and data providers, including plankton taxonomists, ecologists and citizen scientists. The goal is to provide a reliable resource for global plankton distributions, based on image-referenced data. Most images are freely available and can be shared/re-used under a creative commons licence. Planktonnet is still growing and we welcome additional contributions. Any data from picoplankton to large zooplankton is welcome to help build a more complete and robust picture of global plankton biodiversity.