Mesozooplankton abundance, distribution and composition in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: ArcticNet 2005-2018

Zooplankton herbivorous species play an important role in the channeling of energy and organic matter from the primary producers to higher trophic levels occupied by marine vertebrates and birds. Various other processes involved in the biogeochemical flux of carbon in the ocean are mediated by zooplankton. Moreover, in the context of climatic change, a poleward displacement of southern and temperate zooplankton species from the northeast Atlantic and north Pacific is expected. This will bring the unique cold and ice covered Arctic specialized zooplankton assemblages under stronger competitive pressure, possibly resulting in species extinction and major disruptions of the Arctic marine ecosystems that need to be investigated. In these perspectives, knowledge of Arctic zooplankton community structure and diversity in different sectors of the Arctic Ocean needs to be improved in order to start monitoring the evolution of these communities over time. This dataset was produced to describe the zooplankton assemblages and their distribution in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 2005 to 2018.