Abstract:

This dataset contains time-series data of DeSoto Canyon macrofauna abundances, diversity metrics, and biological indicators obtained aboard the R/V Weatherbird II in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2012-09-25 to 2014-06-09 and used to characterize patterns of faunal temporal patterns in the canyon and evaluate the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Project data was generated from sediment cores collected from 5 stations in the canyon and 2 stations from the adjacent slope, from 2012 to 2014. Three replicate deployments of an MC-800 Multicorer were conducted at each site. Each core had a diameter of 10 cm. Four cores from each deployment were sectioned on deck into 0−1, 1−5, and 5−10 cm fractions and fixed whole in 10% formalin. Metrics on faunal and feeding guild abundance, diversity, and community structure were derived from the cores. Metrics of various biological indicators including the benthic polychaete/amphipod ratio and Deepwater Horizon macrofaunal indicator community proportions were measured from the faunal abundance data. The dataset also includes the dates, longitude, and latitude of sample collection.

Suggested Citation:

Baco-Taylor, Amy and Arvind Shantharam. 2021. Time-series data of DeSoto Canyon macrofauna abundances, diversity metrics, and biological indicators obtained aboard the R/V Weatherbird II cruises: WB1305, WB1306, WB1405, WB1411, in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2012-09-25 to 2014-06-09. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/57GY1RP2

Purpose:

The purpose of this sampling was to characterize the temporal patterns of the diversity and community structure of deep-sea infaunal macroinvertebrates of the DeSoto Canyon and how it compares to the adjacent continental slope.

Data Parameters and Units:

The cruise documentations are also attached for the R/V Weatherbird II, WB1305, WB1306, WB1405, WB1411. The chief scientists were Drs Ian McDonald (WB1411 and WB1305), Joel Kostka (WB1306), and Oscar Garcia-Pineda (WB1405). The headers are: SAMPLE ID, SAMPLE COLLECTION DATE , LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, SPECIES RICHNESS, ABUNDANCE, EVENNESS (J'), BPA, CARNIVORE, DEPOSIT, OMNIVORE, SUSPENSION, SYMBIOTIC COSMOPOLITAN, TOLERANT, POSS_TOL, POSS_SENS, SENSITIVE, SAMPLE YEAR, STATION Faunal abundances (total count summed over 4 cores; family level) Feeding guild abundance Pielou's evenness Species richness (family level) Benthic polychaete/amphipod ratio - based Andrade and Renaud (2011) Deepwater Horizon macrofaunal indicator community proportions - based on Washburn et al. (2016)

Methods:

Three replicate deployments of an MC-800 Multicorer were conducted at each site. Each core had a diameter of 10 cm. Four cores from each deployment were sectioned on deck into 0−1, 1−5, and 5−10 cm fractions and fixed whole in 10% formalin. Metrics on faunal and feeding guild abundance, diversity, and community structure were derived from the cores. Metrics of various biological indicators including the benthic polychaete/amphipod ratio and Deepwater Horizon macrofaunal indicator community proportions were measured from the faunal abundance data.

Instruments:

MC-800 Multicorer

Provenance and Historical References:

Andrade, Hector and Paul E. Renaud. 2011. Polychaete/amphipod ratio as an indicator of environmental impact related to offshore oil and gas production along the Norwegian continental shelf. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62(12): 2836-2844. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.08.032. Washburn, Travis, Adelaide C. Rhodes, and Paul A. Montagna. 2016. Benthic taxa as potential indicators of a deep-sea oil spill. Ecological Indicators 71: 587-597. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.07.045.

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