Effects of crude oil, dispersant-treated oil, and dispersant on abundance of different plankton groups from natural plankton assemblages in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

On a research cruise in the Northern Gulf of Mexico in May 2013, samples containing natural plankton assemblages were collected from 5 stations and subjected to on-board incubations containing different concentrations of crude oil (1, 5 and 25 μL L-1), Corexit 9500 dispersant (0.05, 0.25 and 1.25 μL L-1) and dispersant-treated oil (1, 5 and 25 μL L-1). Each experiment (1 per station) consisted of 6 control bottles (absence of pollutants) and duplicated bottles for each experimental treatment concentration (total bottles=24). At the start of the exposure experiments, three additional bottles (initials) were fixed with 1 percent Lugol's solution to determine the initial plankton community abundance and composition in each studied site. This data set contains the cell abundances of ciliates, dinoflagellates, diatoms, and nanoflagellates and the concentrations and growth rates of bloom-forming dinoflagellates and picoplankton from each of the experiments.