Southeastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida coast data documents macroinfauna populations and sediment grain size from sandy beach swash zones. The dataset contains mean counts per core for dominant species Donax variabilis and Emerita talpoida, along with sediment measurements. It was collected by NOAA NCEI from May 2010 to July 2011 in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Use Cases
- Analyze correlations between sediment median grain size and macroinfauna abundance counts.
- Model temporal changes in Donax variabilis and Emerita talpoida population densities across high, mid, and low swash subareas.
- Assess spatial impact gradients of the Deepwater Horizon spill by comparing species counts across Gulf and Florida coast sites.
- Study species distribution patterns using core sample data collected within 100m transects parallel to the shoreline.
Strengths
- Focuses on two dominant species constituting over 99% of sampled organisms, simplifying community analysis.
- Sampling structured across three distinct swash zone subareas (high, mid, low) at intensive sites.
- Data collection spans a 14-month period from May 2010 to July 2011, capturing post-spill conditions.
Limitations
- Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting statistical power assessment.
- Data is temporally stale, with the last update in July 2011, missing long-term recovery trends.
- Geographic scope is limited to the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida, not the full spill-affected area.
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA_NCEI
- Collection Method
- Field sampling via sediment cores (10cm diameter, 20cm deep) collected within 2 hours of low tide, followed by laboratory sieving, sorting, and grain size analysis.
- Time Range
- May 2010 to July 2011
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Swash zones of sandy beaches along the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and southeastern Florida coast.