Realm: Freshwater
Climate: Temperate
Biome: Small river ecosystems
Central latitude: 38.117970
Central longitude: -121.796560
Duration: 17 years, from 2005 to 2021

32043 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. STN The Summer Townet Survey (STN) was initiated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1959 in order to determine the relative abundance and distribution of upper estuary pelagic species, namely age-0 Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis). As with the FMWT, the STN is currently mandated by the 2019 Delta Smelt Biological Opinion (USFWS 2019) and began in response to the development of the Central Valley Project pumping plants. The Summer Townet Survey collects mesozooplankton samples from 32 historic stations and 8 supplemental stations ranging from San Pablo Bay to Rio Vista, Stockton, Cache Slough, and the Deep-Water Ship Channel. Zooplankton monitoring began in 2005 with samples collected every 2 weeks between June and August. STN samples only mesozooplankton during their fish trawl with a net attached to the townet frame. Zooplankton samples are collected during 1 of the fish tows at each fixed station in open channels using 10-minute oblique tows. Mesozooplankton are sampled using a 73 cm long modified Clark-Bumpus net with 160 µm mesh and preserved in 10% formalin dyed with rose bengal. Biomass is estimated and 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 STN and its methods can be found on the STN data publication (Burdi et al. 2022).

Citation(s)

@Dataset{BioTIME_cit332, Study_id = {565}, 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} }