Arctic Marine Food Web Biomarker Data from Southampton Island

149 species of invertebrates, fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals were analyzed using stable isotopes and highly branched isoprenoids. The dataset provides a baseline for the Southampton Island marine food web structure from 2016 to 2019, revealing an average trophic position of 4.8. It quantifies the sympagic carbon dependence of Arctic marine mammals at 53.3 ± 22.2%.

Use Cases

• Model vertical trophic structure using stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotope ratios across 149 taxa.
• Quantify the contribution of ice algae versus phytoplankton-derived carbon using highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) biomarkers.
• Analyze the δ34S signature to assess interconnections between benthic and pelagic food sources for pelagic organisms.
• Assess the role of benthic invertebrates, which occupied 4 trophic levels, in sustaining higher trophic level consumers.

Strengths

• Includes biomarker data for 149 distinct taxa, providing broad taxonomic coverage.
• Multi-year sampling from 2016 to 2019 establishes a temporal baseline.
• Combines multiple analytical methods: stable isotopes (C, N, S) and highly branched isoprenoids.

Limitations

• Specific column names, sample data, and row counts are unavailable, limiting immediate analytical utility.
• Geographic scope is restricted to the coastal area of Southampton Island in northern Hudson Bay.
• Data format includes non-tabular files (PDF, HTML) which may require extraction for analysis.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, with collaborators from the Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba.

Collection Method

Samples collected and analyzed using bulk stable isotope ratios and highly branched isoprenoid biomarkers.

Time Range

2016 to 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24, though the underlying data collection ended in 2019.

Geography

Southampton Island marine ecosystem in northern Hudson Bay, Canada.