One station 5.5 nautical miles off Blyth on the Northumberland coast, 55° 07min N, 001° 20min W, NW North Sea

Zooplankton taxonomy-related abundance per unit volume of the water column

Plankton nets

The time series represents monthly samples of zooplankton collected from a station approximately 5.5 nautical miles off the Northumberland coast. Each month zooplankton are collected using a UNESCO WP2 net hauled from 50m to the surface (water depth at the station is 53m) with 4 hauls being pooled for analysis and by a 10 minute tow of a UNESCO WP3 net. In addition samples for determination of the large phytoplankton have been collected (a P200, 0.063mm, net) but these samples have not been processed. Data are in the form of a time by abundance matrix with most taxa being of the species level. However for some groups males and females and/or adults and juveniles have been recorded separately. There are occasional gaps in the data due to weather conditions and a minor break in continuity between April and December 1989. The data are stored as analogue recording sheets and in a spreadsheet format in machine readable form. The work is ongoing and access to the data is by special arrangement only.

Evans, F. and Edwards, A.J. (1993) Changes in the Zooplankton community off the coast of Northumberland between 1969 and 1988, with notes on changes in the phytoplankton and benthos., Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Vol. 172: pp11-31

Dove Marine Laboratory, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Cullercoats
North Shields
Tyne and Wear
NE30 4PZ
United Kingdom