Chemtax version 1.95 for calculating the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton populations

Please note: CHEMTAX must not be used as a black box. It will not deduce what taxa are in the water. The user must input the expected taxa and their expected pigment composition, then CHEMTAX will calculate the contributions of each taxon to the total in each sample.

It is imperative that the user understands the function of CHEMTAX, and the taxonomic distribution of pigments (including the potential ambiguities) if useful data are to be obtained. A detailed strategy for applying CHEMTAX (and interpreting pigment data in general) is given in Higgins et al (2011). An example of combining CHEMTAX with other data is given in Wright et al (2010).

Higgins H.W., Wright S. W., Schluter L. (2011). Quantitative Interpretation of Chemotaxonomic Pigment Data, Chapter 6, Phytoplankton Pigments: Characterization, Chemotaxonomy and Applications in Oceanography, Suzanne Roy, Einar Skarstad Egeland, Geir Johnsen and Carole Anne Llewellyn (eds.) Cambridge University Press. Wright, SW, van den Enden, RL, Pearce, I, Davidson, AT, Scott FJ, Westwood, KJ (2010).

Phytoplankton community structure and stocks in the Southern Ocean (30 - 80 degrees E) determined by CHEMTAX analysis of HPLC pigment signatures. Deep-Sea Research II 57, 758-778 A CHEMTAX User Forum has been set up at groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/chemtax_users. Registration: After downloading the files, please email the enclosed registration form to Simon.Wright@aad.gov.au with CHEMTAX in the title.

Please note that Simon is semi-retired and may not respond immediately.