Dataset for: A ribosomal sequence-based oil sensitivity index for phytoplankton groups

Species-level variability has made it challenging to establish the relative sensitivity of phytoplankton to oil and mixtures of oil and dispersant. In this research, a phytoplankton group sensitivity index using ribosome sequence data was developed and was applied to a mesocosm experiment in which a natural microbial community was exposed to oil and two oil-dispersant mixtures. Using the log of the ratio of the number of species that increase to the number that decrease in relative abundance in the treatment relative to the control, the relative sensitivity of four phytoplankton taxonomic groups, diatoms, dinoflagellates, green algae, and Chrysophytes, was computed. This dataset supports the publication: Finkel, Z. V., Liang, Y., Nanjappa, D., Bretherton, L., Brown, C. M., Quigg, A., & Irwin, A. J. (2020). A ribosomal sequence-based oil sensitivity index for phytoplankton groups. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 151, 110798. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110798