Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS) Zooplankton Census provides species lists and abundance counts for planktonic communities at a long-term oceanographic station. The dataset supports a multi-species inventory spanning diel, seasonal, annual, and decadal time scales, intended for integration with the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). The program is an ongoing 13-year time series situated in the Sargasso Sea, developed by SCIOPS.
Use Cases
- Analyze species distribution and abundance patterns across diel, seasonal, and decadal time scales using species lists and count data.
- Model the impact of environmental change on plankton communities by merging species data with accompanying BATS cruise data like water temperature and nutrient concentrations.
- Study the qualitative role of zooplankton in pelagic food webs by examining counts of different taxonomic groups relative to higher trophic levels.
- Investigate multi-year biodiversity trends in the subtropical gyre using the 13-year time series of high-resolution species data.
Strengths
- 13-year ongoing time series providing long-term ecological context
- High-resolution species data intended for integration with detailed environmental metadata from BATS cruises
Limitations
- Specific sample size, row count, and geographic scope beyond the Sargasso Sea site are not provided
- Data completeness and update frequency for the ongoing series are unspecified
Provenance
- Source
- SCIOPS, part of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) initiative
- Collection Method
- Species inventory from zooplankton and micronekton sampling at the BATS station
- Time Range
- 13-year ongoing time series
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS) station in the western North Atlantic subtropical gyre (Sargasso Sea)