Insights on community dynamics from large-scale, long-term data: time series for zooplankton and environmental variates from 35 North American lakes

NCEAS-1998-2244-NonDist-Dataset: The NCEAS Community Dynamics Working Group brought together theoretical and empirical ecologists to evaluate the relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability in natural communities. We focused on zooplankton community dynamics, in part because we had access to extensive time series data on zooplankton community structure from 35 North American lakes. Thirty-four of the lakes were concentrated at 5 sites: the North Temperate Lakes LTER site in Wisconsin; the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center in Michigan; the Dorset Environmental Research Centre, the Experimental Lakes Area, and the Sudbury region, all in Ontario. We also have data for saline Mono Lake in California. Our database has many strengths, including the length of the time series (5-21 years); consistent sampling methodologies, particularly for zooplankton; and the availability of information on environmental factors, including phytoplankton, physical parameters, and water chemistry. Another unique aspect of our dataset is that it includes data from both undisturbed reference lakes and experimentally manipulated lakes. The whole-lake experiments include food web manipulations, nutrient enrichments, acidifications and limings, and an unplanned invasion of an exotic species. Some of the experimental manipulations are even replicated within and among sites, providing a unique opportunity to explore the extent to which responses to a particular perturbation are consistent across lakes. In addition to determining how manipulations change the dynamics of zooplankton communities, we are using the data from the reference lakes to establish bounds on