IMOS Zooplankton Biomass from Nine Australian Coastal Stations

Zooplankton biomass data collected monthly at nine National Reference Stations around the Australian coastline. Sampling uses a drop net designed to sample on descent, with depth varying per station. The dataset is part of the Integrated Marine Observing Systems (IMOS) program and is superseded by a newer collection.

Use Cases

• Analyzing zooplankton community composition based on taxon per cubic meter measurements
• Tracking biomass trends over time based on dry weight per cubic meter data
• Conducting size spectrum analysis using Zooscan methodology
• Comparing historical Port Hacking 4 (PH4) data with newer Port Hacking (PHB) station data to enhance time series

Strengths

• Data from nine stations sampled regularly around the Australian coastline
• Sampling conducted monthly at most stations, providing a temporal series
• Three zooplankton samples taken each month for different analyses

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) via the Integrated Marine Observing Systems (IMOS)

Collection Method

Field sampling using a drop net with a 60 cm diameter and 100 micron mesh, weighted to fall at 1 m/s.

Time Range

Includes Port Hacking 4 (PH4) samples from 2002 to January 2009.

Freshness

Dataset was superseded by a newer collection in December 2021.

Geography

Nine reference stations around the Australian coastline.