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Primary Productivity in the Hudson River Estuary

Level 3
Hudson River Ecology
Tivoli Bay
Tivoli Bay estuary. Photo: Ian Buckwalter.

Primary Productivity in the Hudson River Data

expanded metadata and resources

You can also explore this dataset on TUVA, an interactive graphing platform.

Background

Primary productivity is a term used to describe the rate at which plants and other photosynthetic organisms (producers) in an ecosystem use sunlight or other energy sources to build organic compounds like sugars. This is important because producers feed the other organisms in the ecosystem, which are called consumers.

Estuaries are among the most productive marine ecosystems, yet their productivity level fluctuates greatly through the seasons and in different parts of the estuary.

Using data from the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observation System (HRECOS) you can look at how primary productivity changes daily and over the growing season. HRECOS uses automated sensors to record real-time data on Hudson River conditions (temperature, dissolved oxygen, etc) and weather (rainfall, wind speed, etc.)

Data Sampling & Compilation

Data Source: “Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System.” 2012. Norrie Point Environmental Center Station. Accessed August 18th, 2017. http://www.hrecos.org/

Prepared by Christine Courtsunis (Newburgh HS) & Jonathan Howe (Poughkeepsie Day School)