Benthic Megafauna and Environmental Variables on Bay of Fundy Scallop Grounds

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's dataset contains 403 survey stations from 1997 and 2007-08 on three scallop fishing grounds. It records presence/absence for 68 benthic invertebrate taxa and includes 14 environmental variables like seabed depth and temperature. The data also features a 68x27 taxa-by-traits matrix using fuzzy coding for seven biological traits.

Use Cases

• Analyze benthic assemblage changes between 1997 and 2007 using presence/absence data for 68 taxa across 403 stations.
• Model species distributions by correlating taxon presence/absence with 14 environmental variables like seabed shear stress and salinity.
• Apply fuzzy coding scores from the 68x27 taxa-by-traits matrix to study functional trait composition of invertebrate communities.
• Investigate spatial differences in faunal communities among the Digby, Lurcher Shoal, and Grand Manan scallop grounds.

Strengths

• Includes 403 survey stations from two distinct time periods (1997 and 2007-08) for temporal comparison.
• Covers 68 benthic invertebrate taxa with detailed biological trait data across 27 modalities.
• Environmental variables are derived from established models (Li et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2018) for consistency.

Limitations

• Sample size is moderate (403 stations) and geographically limited to three scallop grounds in the Bay of Fundy.
• Biological trait data relies on literature-based 'fuzzy coding', which may introduce subjectivity.
• Environmental data for temporal analysis uses model outputs, not direct in-situ measurements for all variables.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ocean Ecosystems Science Division.

Collection Method

Stratified-random annual summer scallop surveys using a 'Digby scallop drag'.

Time Range

1997 and 2007-08.

Freshness

Data collection ended in 2007-08; dataset was published in May 2024.

Geography

Three scallop grounds (Digby, Lurcher Shoal, Grand Manan) in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.