Species richness and abundance of benthic infauna found in lagoons along the Beaufort Sea Coast, 2018-ongoing

Quantitative benthic invertebrate surveys can be used to characterize and compare benthic community structure of nearshore Arctic lagoon systems. The Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research (BLE LTER) Core Program employs spatial sampling to compare benthic community structure among lagoon systems along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast and temporal sampling to track benthic community structure across the three major seasons of the Arctic (ice cover, break up, and open water). Ponar grabs, hollow-core drills (SIPRE corer), and 0.5 mm sieves are employed to quantitatively sample meiobenthic and macrobenthic communities during all three Arctic seasons. All invertebrate specimens are identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, preserved in 100% ethanol, and enumerated. Wet weights in ethanol are also recorded.