IMOS National Reference Station (NRS) - Zooplankton Abundance

This dataset comprises the zooplankton abundance estimates of a broader sampling program carried out by the National Reference Stations (NRS) within the Integrated Marine Observing system. Regular monthly zooplankton samples are undertaken at the stations as part of a larger water sampling program by the National Reference Stations. In total nine stations are sampled regularly around the Australian coastline. Sampling is conducted monthly (Esperance and Ningaloo 3 monthly) off small vessels at each of the nine reference stations. The sampling is conducted using a drop net (as per the design of Heron) which has a 60 cm diameter, 100 micron mesh and is weighted to fall at 1 m/s. The net is designed to pull closed at the end of its fall so that it samples on the way down and does not sample on the way up. The depth of the sample varies at each station. 3 zooplankton samples are taken each month. 2 are fixed in formalin and will be analysed as described below. The unfixed sample is concentrated and frozen (-80oC)and will be used for molecular analysis in the future. The Port Hacking 4 (PH4) samples (2002 - Jan 2009) were sampled using a smaller net, 20 cm diameter, which sampled on the way up and down. The PH4 site is very close to the Port Hacking national reference station (PHB) where samples are now taken to build up and enhance the time series. The plankton ecology lab (based in Queensland) will analyse the samples collected for: 1. Community composition (Taxon/m3) 2. Biomass (dry weight in mg/m3) 3. Size spectrum analysis using zooscan (in progress) Data storage and access is planned to be interoperable with other national and international programs through the IMOS Infrastructure. Station metadata can be found through this resource. Data is available freely via the AODN portal: https://portal.aodn.org.au.

As the taxonomic resolution of the data has changed over time, due to continual training, it is important that users refer to the change log tables included in your data download. These will provide information on the validity of the taxa, from what date we have been identifying certain taxa etc. Classification fields may be blank depending on the level to which that taxa has been identified, i.e. if only identified to family, genus and species will be blank.