Data from Sand aggradation alters biofilm standing crop and metabolism in a low-gradient Lake Superior tributary

We conducted a comparative study of biofilm standing crop and metabolism in the Salmon Trout River, a tributary of Lake Superior where watershed disturbances have led to 3-fold increases in streambed fine sediments, predominately sand, in the past decade. We compared biofilm standing crop and metabolism rates using light–dark chambers in reaches where substrate consisted of predominately exposed rock or sand substrates. This data archive includes rates of primary production and respiration, biomass measurements from chambers, and benthic standing crop and water chemistry data collected from the same river sites over the course of a summer. All data were published in Journal of Great Lakes research in 2015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2015.09.004