IMOS National Reference Station (NRS) - Zooplankton Abundance

This dataset comprises the zooplankton abundance estimates of a broader sampling program carried out by the Plankton National Reference Station within the Integrated Marine Observing system. Regular monthly zooplankton samples are undertaken at the stations as part of a larger water sampling program by the Australian National Reference Stations. In total nine stations are sampled regularly around the Australian coastline. Sampling is conducted monthly (Esperance and Ningaloo 3 monthly) off small vessels at each of the nine reference stations. The sampling is conducted using a drop net (as per the design of Heron) which has a 60 cm diameter, 100 micron mesh and is weighted to fall at 1 m/s. The net is designed to pull closed at the end of its fall so that it samples on the way down and does not sample on the way up. The depth of the sample varies at each station. 3 zooplankton samples are taken each month. 2 are fixed in formalin and will be analysed as described below. The unfixed sample is concentrated and frozen (-80oC)and will be used for molecular analysis in the future. The Port Hacking 4 (PH4) samples (2002 - Jan 2009) were sampled using a smaller net, 20 cm diameter, which sampled on the way up and down. The PH4 site is very close to the Port Hacking national reference station (PHB) where samples are now taken to build up and enhance the time series. The plankton ecology lab (based in Queensland) will analyse the samples collected for: 1. Community composition (Taxon/m3) 2. Biomass (dry weight in mg/m3) 3. Size spectrum analysis using zooscan (in progress) Data storage and access is planned to be interoperable with other national and international programs through the IMOS Infrastructure. Station metadata can be found through this resource. Data is available freely via the AODN portal: https://portal.aodn.org.au. As the taxonomic resolution of the data has changed over time, due to continual training, it is important that users refer to the change log tables included in your data download. These will provide information on the validity of the taxa, from what date we have been identifying certain taxa etc. Classification fields may be blank depending on the level to which that taxa has been identified, i.e. if only identified to family, genus and species will be blank.
Data downloaded from IMOS 14-March-2017 from https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/metadata.show?uuid=c13451a9-7cfc-091c-e044-00144f7bc0f4 and taxonomy matched to WoRMS. Added additional records on 2022-03-01

本数据集隶属于综合海洋观测系统（Integrated Marine Observing System，IMOS）下属浮游生物国家参考站开展的大型采样项目，包含浮游动物丰度估算数据。作为澳大利亚国家参考站大型水体采样项目的一部分，各站点会定期开展月度浮游动物采样（埃斯佩兰斯与宁加卢站点为每3个月一次）。目前澳大利亚沿海共设有9个常规采样参考站。
采样工作均通过小型船舶在9个参考站点开展，除埃斯佩兰斯与宁加卢站点外，其余站点均为月度采样。采样采用赫伦（Heron）型沉降式采样网，该网网口直径60厘米，网目尺寸100微米，配有配重以1米/秒的速度沉降。该网设计为沉降结束时自动闭合，仅在下沉过程中完成采样，上浮阶段不采集样品。各站点的采样深度存在差异。
每月采集3份浮游动物样品，其中2份用福尔马林固定，将按照下述方法开展分析；剩余1份未固定样品经浓缩后置于-80℃环境下冷冻保存，用于未来的分子生物学分析。
2002年至2009年1月期间的哈克宁港4号（Port Hacking 4，PH4）站点样品采用直径20厘米的小型网具采集，该网在下沉与上浮过程中均可完成采样。目前PH4站点紧邻哈克宁港国家参考站（PHB），现改在PHB站点采样以完善并延长时间序列数据。
昆士兰州的浮游生物生态学实验室将对采集的样品开展以下分析：
1. 群落组成（分类单元/立方米）
2. 生物量（干重，单位mg/m³）
3. 采用Zooscan的粒径谱分析（进行中）
本数据集计划通过IMOS基础设施实现与其他国家及国际项目的数据互操作。站点元数据可通过本资源查询。数据可通过澳大利亚海洋数据门户（Australian Ocean Data Network，AODN）免费获取，网址为https://portal.aodn.org.au。由于分类学分辨率随持续的分类鉴定培训工作不断更新，使用者务必参考数据下载包中附带的变更日志表，该日志将提供分类单元的有效性信息、特定类群的正式识别起始日期等内容。分类字段可能存在空白，具体取决于该类群的鉴定水平：例如若仅鉴定至科水平，则属与种字段均为空白。
本数据集于2017年3月14日从IMOS目录下载，来源地址为https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/metadata.show?uuid=c13451a9-7cfc-091c-e044-00144f7bc0f4，分类学信息已匹配至世界海洋物种登记册（World Register of Marine Species，WoRMS）。2022年3月1日补充了额外记录。