Metadata details
AAS_4331_ZooplanktonAbundance
All scientific data collected by the Australian Antarctic program (AAp) are eventually described in the Catalogue of Australian Antarctic and Subantarctic Metadata (CAASM). CAASM can be used to search through AAp data descriptions, and it also provides links to access publicly available datasets, which can either be immediately downloaded or obtained from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC).
- Citation
- Swadling, K. (2019) Zooplankton abundance in the Kerguelen Axis region, Ver. 2, Australian Antarctic Data Centre - doi:10.4225/15/5a12154fa68d4, Accessed: 2026-05-13
- Title
- Zooplankton abundance in the Kerguelen Axis region
- Data Centre
- Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia
- DOI
- doi:10.4225/15/5a12154fa68d4
- Created Date
- 2017-11-16
- Revision Date
- 2019-10-16
- Parent record
- None
Datasets and documents
Related links
Description
Zooplankton were collected with a Rectangular Midwater Trawl (RMT 8+1 net) from 37 sampling sites on and near the Southern Kerguelen Plateau. The contents of each net were preserved in 5% buffered formaldehyde. This dataset covers the counts of the contents of the RMT1 net. The contents were split in the laboratory using a Motoda Box and then identified and counted under a Leica M165C stereo-microscope. A flow meter attached to the mouth of the RMT 8 was used to record the volume of seawater passing through the net, and this volume was converted to water passing through the RMT 1 by applying the conversion factor of 2.027357. The organisms in the samples were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. For copepods and euphausiids this level was to species, and generally to sex and/or development stage. For other groups, the identifications were to high levels such as Family or Order.
Purpose
The purpose of this dataset was to examine the abundance and distribution zooplankton across the sampling regions, and to analyse key environmental drivers that could account for the distributions observed. Further, we used the data to feed into broader analyses of the food web/s of the region; in particular highlighting the krill trophic pathway and the copepod-fish trophic pathway.
Quality
No problems with the data collection or the analysis.
2018-08-29 - The original datasheet was reformatted to fit IPT Biodiversity.AQ standard. The new datasheet "ZooplanktonKerguelenPlateau.csv" provides the datasetID, eventID (Cruiser and sampling site), eventDate, decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, locationID, continent, occurrenceStatus, and basisOfRecord, samplingProtocol, and preparation. The individuals abundance in 1000 m-3. The taxonomical organization is provided to the lowest taxonomical rank that could be determined, after matched in WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species). Some species showed sex and life stage classification.
Access
These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL.
Temporal Coverages
- Start date: 2016-01-23 - Stop date: 2016-02-16
Spatial Coverages
Data Resolution
- 5 Kilometre(s)
- 5 Kilometre(s)
- 1 Day(s)
Science Keywords
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > PLANKTON
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES > ARTHROPODS > CRUSTACEANS
- EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES > ARTHROPODS > CRUSTACEANS
Additional Keywords
- RMT 8+1
Locations
- GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR
- OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > FAWN TROUGH
- OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > KERGUELEN PLATEAU
- OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > PRINCESS ELIZABETH TROUGH
- CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA
Platforms
- R/V Aurora Australis
Instruments
- MIDWATER TRAWLS
Researchers
- swadling, kerrie (INVESTIGATOR)
Use Constraints
If you are interested in using these data (for meta-analyses or similar) please contact the custodian of the data.
This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=AAS_4331_ZooplanktonAbundance when using these data.
