Zooplankton data from Belgian research campaigns in the Southern North Sea [1902-1979] | Lifewatch regional portal

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Zooplankton data from Belgian research campaigns in the Southern North Sea [1902-1979]

Within the framework of LifeWatch and the 4DEMON project, zooplankton data for the Southern North Sea, collected during Belgian research campaigns, has been recovered from historic reports and publications. In January 2014, different library units were consulted to trace back to literature that can be a potential source for plankton datasets in the BPNS: the Belgian Marine Bibliography (BMB), the archive of the Flanders Marine Institute, the archive and library of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN) and the library of KULeuven and Ghent University.  The data collection holds historic zooplankton measurements for the BPNS and the Dutch Coast between 1902 and 1979.

CITATION
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Belgium (2017): Zooplankton data from Belgian research campaigns in the Southern North Sea (1902-1979). https://doi.org/10.14284/303

DATA
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SOURCES
Van Meel, J. (1975)
Projekt Zee - Zooplankton, 1970-1976
CRA - Biological datasets, 1977-1981

RELATED INFORMATION
LifeWatch Data Explorer - Zooplankton data
4DEMON project
Van Ginderdeuren K., 2013

The zooplankton dataset consists of 23,396 records (8,276 species level and 1,809 genera level observations) and originates from three major sources:

  • 1902: Dataset part of the historic monitoring campaign on board of the lightship West-Hinder. Data were digitized by VLIZ in the frame of the LifeWatch project.
  • 1971-1974: Data collected in frame of the Projekt Zee program (1970-1976). Data were digitized by VLIZ in the frame of the 4DEMON project.
  • 1977-1979: Data collected in frame of the Concerted Research Actions program (1977-1981). Data were digitized by VLIZ in the frame of the 4DEMON project.
  • During these campaigns overall zooplankton community (counts, density and biomass) was sampled using a plankton net with different mesh sizes.

The dataset includes records for 20 orders mostly belonging to the Calanoida (36%), Anthoathecata (19%), Harpacticoida (13%) and Leptothecata (7%). These higher abundances of Hydrozoa and Calanoida are due to 2 specific case study datasets which were also included in the zooplankton collection:

  • Houvenaghel G.; Laboratoire d'Océanologie. ULB: Belgium; (2016): Total Hydrozoa abundance in the Southern Bight of the North Sea between 1971 and 1972. https://doi.org/10.14284/265
  • Van Gijsegem B.; Daro N.; Laboratorium voor Ekologie en Systematiek. VUB: Belgium; (2016): Weight of Copepoda in the Southern bight of the North Sea in 1971 and 1974. https://doi.org/10.14284/17