Realm: Freshwater
Climate: Temperate
Biome: Small river ecosystems
Central latitude: 38.118270
Central longitude: -121.791360
Duration: 16 years, from 2005 to 2021

12521 records

19 distinct species

Across the time series Pseudodiaptomus is the most frequently occurring species

Methods

Curators note: The original IEP zooplankton dataset has been split by the different survey programmes due to methodological differences. The Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) is a consortium of State and federal agencies that has been conducting cooperative ecological investigations since the 1970s. The IEP runs over twenty long-term monitoring surveys on biological components of the Upper San Francisco Estuary. Surveys monitor phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, water quality, and many types of fish. Several fish surveys sample zooplankton concurrently, and information on zooplankton species composition and abundance can be coupled with fish diet studies. The IEP long-term surveys that monitor zooplankton are the Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP; also known as the IEP zooplankton study), 20-mm Survey (20mm), Fall Midwater Trawl (FMWT), Summer Townet Survey (STN), the Yolo Bypass Fisheries Monitoring Survey (not included in this integrated dataset), and the Fish Restoration Program (FRP). An overview of these programs is provided in study_metadata.csv. Locations of fixed sampling locations for surveys with fixed sampling designs are provided in stations.csv, and coordinates for every sample are provided in environment.csv. Zooplankton surveys sample 3 different size classes of zooplankton, by towing nets with different sized mesh (or in one case a pump that pumps water into a microzooplankton net). Every IEP survey that collects zooplankton samples with a mesozooplankton net, which targets adult copepods and cladocerans, because these taxa are believed to comprise the majority of zooplankton in juvenile and adult planktivorous fish diets. Some surveys also sample with micro- or macro-zooplankton nets. Three size classes of zooplankton are targeted by these sampling programs with different net mesh sizes: micro zooplankton (copepods and rotifers) are targeted with a 43 µm mesh net, meso zooplankton (copepods and cladocerans) are targeted with 150 - 160 µm mesh nets, and macro zooplankton (mysids and amphipods) are targeted with 500-505 µm mesh nets. FMWT The Fall Midwater Trawl (FMWT) was initiated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1967 in order to determine the relative abundance and distribution of age-0 Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), but the data has also been used for other upper estuary pelagic fish species, including Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), American Shad (Alosa sapidissima), Splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus), and Threadfin Shad (Dorosoma petenense). The FMWT is currently mandated by the 2019 Delta Smelt Biological Opinion for the coordinated operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project (USFWS 2019). The FMWT samples 122 stations each month from September to December ranging from San Pablo Bay to Stockton, Hood, and The Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel. FMWT samples both macrozooplankton and mesozooplankton at a subset of these stations since 2011, with some pilot studies in earlier years. Zooplankton samples are collected along with the fish trawl at fixed stations in open channels using 10-minute oblique tows. Macrozooplankton are sampled using a 124 cm long net with 505 µm mesh, while mesozooplankton is sampled using a 73 cm long modified Clark-Bumpus net with 160 µm mesh. For both zooplankton sizes, samples are preserved in 10% formalin dyed with rose bengal. Lengths are recorded for macrozooplankton but not mesozooplankton, biomass is estimated for both as in EMP. Recorded environmental variables include time, tidal stage, depth, surface and bottom conductivity, surface and bottom temperature, Secchi depth, Microcystis presence, and turbidity. More information on FMWT and its methods can be found on the FMWT data publication (Burdi et al. 2022).

Citation(s)

@Dataset{BioTIME_cit332, Study_id = {562}, Citation_id = {332}, Author = {Bashevkin, S.M. and Hartman, R. and Thomas, M. and Barros, A. and Burdi, C.E. and Hennessy, A. and Tempel, T. and Kayfetz, K. and Alstad, K. and Pien, C.}, Publisher = {Environmental Data Initiative}, Title = {Interagency Ecological Program: Zooplankton abundance in the Upper San Francisco Estuary from 1972-2021, an integration of 7 long-term monitoring programs ver 4}, Year = {2023}, Doi = {10.6073/pasta/8b646dfbeb625e308212a39f1e46f69b}, Url = {https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/8b646dfbeb625e308212a39f1e46f69b}, Language = {English}, Version = {4} }