Mnemiopsis Ecology Modelling and Observation (MEMO) Plankton Surveys

Mnemiopsis Ecology Modelling and Observation (MEMO) Plankton Surveys contain counts of fish larvae, fish eggs, microzooplankton, mesozooplankton, and phytoplankton. The data was collected by CEFAS during four RV Endeavour cruises in the North Sea and Western English Channel between May 2011 and July 2012. The dataset includes positional data and filtered volumes where applicable.

Use Cases

• Modeling plankton population dynamics based on counts of multiple plankton groups mentioned in the description
• Analyzing spatial distribution of fish larvae and eggs based on the associated positional data
• Studying marine ecosystem health and food web interactions based on concurrent micro-, meso-, and phytoplankton data
• Calibrating or validating ecological models for the North Sea and Western English Channel using the cruise-based survey data

Strengths

• Data covers multiple plankton groups (fish larvae/eggs, microzooplankton, mesozooplankton, phytoplankton) for integrated analysis
• Includes associated positional data, enabling geospatial analysis
• Collection occurred over four specific research cruises in 2011 and 2012, providing temporal snapshots

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (via CEFAS cruises)

Collection Method

Analysis of samples collected from research vessel surveys.

Time Range

May 2011 to July 2012

Freshness

Data collection concluded in 2012; last update is unknown.

Geography

Western English Channel (ICES area VIIE) and North Sea (Botney Gut/Silver Pit)