Zooplankton collected with a 2-m, 700-um net towed from surface to 120 m, aboard Palmer Station Antarctica LTER annual cruises off the western Antarctic peninsula, 2009 - 2020.

Zooplankton are a morphologically and taxonomically diverse group of animals. Many zooplankton feed on phytoplankton and thus provide a link between primary producers and higher trophic levels. Zooplankton density and biovolume were determined at grid stations on the annual LTER cruises along the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). Typically, zooplankton were collected with a 2x2 meter, 700um mesh net fitted with a flow meter and towed obliquely to 120m. Zooplankton distributions vary spatially due to water column characteristics, which affect their predators' distributions. As climate change continues to affect the WAP, the relative abundance of the various zooplankton components can also be expected to change.

浮游动物（Zooplankton）是一类在形态学与分类学上均具有高度多样性的动物类群。多数浮游动物以浮游植物（phytoplankton）为食，由此构成初级生产者与更高营养级生物之间的营养纽带。研究人员在沿南极半岛西部（Western Antarctic Peninsula, WAP）开展的年度长期生态研究（Long-Term Ecological Research, LTER）航次的网格站位中，测定了浮游动物的种群密度与生物体积。常规采样流程为：使用搭载流量计的2米×2米、网目孔径700微米的浮游生物网，以斜向拖网方式将网具下放至120米水深采集样品。浮游动物的空间分布会因水团理化特征产生差异，而水团特征同时会影响其捕食者的分布格局。随着气候变化持续对南极半岛西部区域产生影响，各类浮游动物类群的相对丰度预计也将发生改变。