Benthic Macrofauna and Meiofauna Biodiversity in Disko Fan and Hatton Basin

Fisheries and Oceans Canada surveyed five biodiversity monitoring stations in the Disko Fan and Hatton Basin Conservation Areas of the Arctic Ocean during 2012 and 2013. The dataset provides baseline data on benthic invertebrates, including macrofauna and foraminiferan meiofauna, collected using Van Veen grabs, box corers, and drop cameras. It was published in a 2022 technical report to support future monitoring and pan-Arctic comparisons.

Use Cases

• Analyze macrofauna community composition across the five monitoring stations to assess baseline biodiversity in the conservation areas.
• Compare foraminiferan meiofauna data from the 1-cm size fraction with environmental data from attached temperature recorders.
• Use the benthic invertebrate data from Van Veen grab and box core samples for pan-Arctic comparisons of benthic communities as per the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Plan.

Strengths

• Data collected following standardized protocols from the Arctic Council's Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Plan.
• Samples from five established monitoring stations provide a structured baseline for a sensitive Arctic region.
• Complementary data exists from camera transects for epibenthos, documented in a separate report.

Limitations

• Limited spatial coverage with only five sampling stations across two conservation areas.
• Sample data and specific column details (e.g., species counts, measurements) are not provided in the input description.
• Data is from a specific survey in 2012-2013, providing a historical snapshot rather than ongoing monitoring.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ocean Ecosystems Science Division.

Collection Method

Samples collected using Van Veen grabs, box corers, drop cameras, and temperature recorders at five monitoring stations.

Time Range

2012-2013.

Freshness

Dataset metadata was last updated in March 2026, but the underlying survey data is from 2012-2013.

Geography

Disko Fan Conservation Area and Hatton Basin Conservation Area in the Arctic Ocean.