Epipelagic mesozooplankton distribution and abundance in Southern Ocean Atlantic sector and the North Atlantic and Arctic 1996-2013

Peter Ward; Geraint Tarling; Rachael Shreeve; Petra ten Hoopen

doi:10.5285/5a711904-ef42-46a3-9f47-3f0d6b231f65

Epipelagic mesozooplankton distribution and abundance in Southern Ocean Atlantic sector and the North Atlantic and Arctic 1996-2013

Citation

Ward, P., Tarling, G., Shreeve, R., & ten Hoopen, P. (2020). Epipelagic mesozooplankton distribution and abundance in Southern Ocean Atlantic sector and the North Atlantic and Arctic 1996-2013 [Data set]. UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.5285/5A711904-EF42-46A3-9F47-3F0D6B231F65 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-06-23.

Description

Mesozooplankton were collected with a motion-compensated Bongo net (61 cm mouth diameter, 100 and 200 micrometre meshes) and a mini- Bongo net (18 cm mouth diameter, 50 micrometre mesh nets). Both nets fished to a maximum depth of 400 m but sometimes shallower. Specimens were categorised to the lowest possible taxonomic level, which in some cases encompassed developmental stages but in other cases was limited to higher order taxa. Each taxa was enumerated to determine abundance in units of individuals m-2. The dataset allows examination of the distribution and abundance of these species within the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean over a number of years and covering much of the productive season from spring to autumn. The data for the North Atlantic and Arctic covers one season only (summer) and is limited to providing a spatial perspective on the distribution and abundance of mesozooplankton.

Sampling Description

Study Extent

Data were gathered on a series of oceanographic cruises aboard the RRS James Clark Ross during expeditions to the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean and the North Atlantic/Arctic.

Sampling

Samples were retrieved by either a motion compensation Bongo net or a mini Bongo net, and then preserved with Borax buffered 10% formalin for analysis back at the home laboratory. Taxa were identified through examination by light microscopy. The abundance of each taxa within a sample was determined through examining a known fraction of the sample and then making an inverse multiplication of that fraction. Known fractions were principally achieved through the use of a Folsom splitter. Volumetric abundances (individuals m-2) were determined through dividing sample abundance by the volume of water sampled by the respective net. Net volume was mainly derived through multiplying the net opening diameter by the maximum depth of sampling. This calculation assumes 100% net sampling efficiency and that specimens were only captured during the ascent phase of the net deployment.

Method steps

All species were identified according to the taxonomic guides available at time of analysis and the user must be aware that some species names may have since been updated.

Additional info

marine, harvested by iOBIS

Taxonomic Coverages

Animalia
rank: kingdom
Chromista
rank: kingdom
Protozoa
rank: kingdom
Annelida
rank: phylum
Arthropoda
rank: phylum
Bryozoa
rank: phylum
Chaetognatha
rank: phylum
Chordata
rank: phylum
Ciliophora
rank: phylum
Cnidaria
rank: phylum
Ctenophora
rank: phylum
Echinodermata
rank: phylum
Foraminifera
rank: phylum
Mollusca
rank: phylum
Nemertea
rank: phylum
Ochrophyta
rank: phylum
Phoronida
rank: phylum
Rotifera
rank: phylum
Sarcomastigophora
rank: phylum
Appendicularia
rank: class
Ascidiacea
rank: class
Bacillariophyceae
rank: class
Bivalvia
rank: class
Branchiopoda
rank: class
Gastropoda
rank: class
Gymnolaemata
rank: class
Hexanauplia
rank: class
Holothuroidea
rank: class
Hydrozoa
rank: class
Malacostraca
rank: class
Oligotrichea
rank: class
Ophiuroidea
rank: class
Ostracoda
rank: class
Polychaeta
rank: class
Thaliacea
rank: class

Geographic Coverages

Southern Ocean, Atlantic Sector North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic

Bibliographic Citations

Tarling GA, Ward P, Atkinson A, Collins MA, Murphy EJ (2012) Editorial: DISCOVERY 2010: Spatial and temporal variability in a dynamic polar ecosystem. Deep-Sea Res. II 59-60:1-13. - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2011.10.001
Tyrrell T, Tarling GA, Leakey R, Cripps G, Thorpe S, Richier S, Moore CM (2016) Impacts of surface ocean acidification in polar seas and globally: a field-based approach. Deep-Sea Res. II 127:1-6. - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.02.009

Contacts

Peter Ward
originator
position: Investigator
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-1077

Geraint Tarling
originator
position: Investigator
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3753-5899

Rachael Shreeve
originator
position: Investigator
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB

Petra ten Hoopen
originator
position: Investigator
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4242-4015

metadata author
UK Polar Data Centre
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
email: polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk
homepage: https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/

custodian steward
UK Polar Data Centre
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
email: polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk
homepage: https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/

distributor
UK Polar Data Centre
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
email: polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk
homepage: https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/

publisher
UK Polar Data Centre
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
email: polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk
homepage: https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/

Angus Atkinson
content provider
position: Investigator
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5931-4325

administrative point of contact
UK Polar Data Centre
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0ET
GB
email: polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk
homepage: https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/uk-pdc/