A unified dataset of co-located sewage pollution, periphyton, and benthic macroinvertebrate community and food web structure from Lake Baikal (Siberia)

Sewage released from lakeside development can introduce nutrients and micropollutants
that can restructure aquatic ecosystems. Lake Baikal, the world's most ancient, biodiverse,
and voluminous lake, has been experiencing localized sewage pollution from lakeside
settlements. Increasing filamentous algal abundance suggests benthic communities are
responding to this localized pollution. We surveyed 40-km of Lake Baikal's southwestern
shoreline 19-23 August 2015 for sewage indicators, including pharmaceuticals, personal care
products, and microplastics with co-located periphyton, macroinvertebrate, stable isotope,
and fatty acid sampling. Unique identifiers corresponding to sampling locations are retained
throughout all data files to facilitate interoperability among the dataset's 150+ variables.
The data are structured in a tidy format (a tabular arrangement familiar to limnologists) to
encourage future reuse. For Lake Baikal studies, these data can support continued monitoring
and research efforts. For global studies of lakes, these data can help characterize sewage
prevalence and ecological consequences of anthropogenic disturbance across spatial
scales.