Time series of zooplankton abundance in the Florida Keys, collected by the South Florida Program (NOAA/AOML) and the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)

Sampling is carried out bi-monthly on the R/V Walton Smith (University of Miami) as part of the South Florida Program (NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory/ AOML) and the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON). Samples are collected at three stations: Molasses Reef (25.051 N, 80.38 W), Looe Key (24.538 N, 81.413 W), and Western Sambo (24.478 N, 81.717 W). At each station, oblique hauls (surface water) are performed with 64, 200, and 500 μm mesh size Bongo plankton nets. Each net tow is carried out for 2 to 5 minutes at 1-2 knots. The three size classes are split using a Folsom plankton splitter and preserved with 15% formalin for morphological analysis. Morphological identification follows the protocols of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) (Roger et al. 2000) targeting a minimum count of 200 animals per sample. For the 64 and 200 μm net tows, a 5–10 mL aliquot is subsampled after resuspension of 300 ml of the original zooplankton sample using a Stempel pipette. Zooplankton are then identified and counted using a microscope. Zooplankton are identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Zooplankton abundances (density; individuals m-3) are calculated by dividing animal counts by the product of net mouth area, tow speed, and tow duration (i.e., volume of water filtered by the net).