Abstract:
Abundance measurements of benthic macroinfauna were measured in conjunction with field-deployed sediment oxygen demand chambers at four sites on the Chandeleur Sound side of the Chandeleur Islands in the Fall and Summer of 2015 and 2016. Cores (15 cm diameter, 15 cm depth) were collected after each sediment oxygen demand measurement was completed in the field, and additional cores were collected for infauna only (with no SOD measurement; either 10 or 15 cm diameter; 15 cm depth). Each sediment core was sieved using 0.5 mm mesh. Each sample was preserved in 95% ethanol and Rose Bengal stain. All organisms that were alive upon collection and therefor stained were picked out using a dissecting microscope, and placed into separate vials with 95% ethanol for preservation. Animals were identified to lowest taxonomic classification possible, and abundance and was calculated. Abundance was also calculated for taxa grouped into functional groups (motile carnivorous polychaetes, motile subsurface deposit feeding polychaetes, sessile surface deposit feeding polychaetes, motile omnivorous polychaetes, large discretely motile subsurface deposit feeding polychaetes, tube-dwelling subsurface deposit feeding polychaetes, tube-dwelling omnivorous polychaetes, sessile suspension feeding polychaetes, crabs, amphipods and isopods, burrowing crustaceans, non-burrowing shrimp, surface deposit feeding bivalves, motile suspension feeding bivalves, sessile subsurface deposit feeding molluscs, snails, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and others). These functional groups were based on size (interstitial, small, medium, or large), habitat (pelagic, epifaunal, infaunal, or symbiotic), motility (motile, discretely motile, or sessile), feeding (micro-suspension, micro-surface deposit, micro-subsurface deposit, funnel feeder, macro-herbivore, macro-carnivore, omnivore, osmotroph, parasitic, or alternates), and food delivery (tentacles-palps-tubefeet, mucus net, muscular eversible pharynx, non-muscular eversible pharynx, ramified or lamellar surfaces, other, siphonate, asiphonate, claws, filtering, or radula). This grouping allowed for clearer interpretation of sediment oxygen demand data. These data are associated with the datasets: Sediment oxygen demand in shallow water habitats around the Chandeleur Islands in 2015 and 2016 and Macroinfaunal abundance in shallow water habitats around the Chandeleur Islands in 2015 and 2016.
Data Parameters and Units:
CORE ID DATA 1: Core ID - Description: Unique identifiers for each core sampled. This ID includes sample site (Chandeleur Islands [CI]), station (A, B, C1, C2), Habitat (Unvegetated Sediment [O], Ruppia [Hal], Thalassia [Thal], Marsh [M]), Sampling date (ddmmyy), core type (Metabolism data also collected [M], Whole Infauna Core with no SOD data [W]), core replicate number (#), Light/Dark distinction for metabolism cores (L, D), and whether the submerged vegetation was cut (cut) (pertains only to accompanying metabolism data). 2. Sampling Trip - Description: Season/sampling trip in which sampling was conducted in the Chandeleur Islands (Summer 2015, Fall 2015, Summer 2016, Fall 2016) 3. Date - Description: Date sample was collected from the field (yyyy-mm-dd). 4. Site - Description: Site codes corresponding to different sampling locations around the Chandeleur Islands. Site A was located at (29.864039N, -88.842443W), Site B was located at (29.894658N, -88.828155W), Site C1 was located at (29.92758N, -88.8293W), and Site C2 was located at (29.9338N, -88.82949W). 5. Location Latitude - Description: Latitude for each sampling site. 6. Location Longitude - Description: Longitude for each sampling site. 7. Habitat: Describes the habitat type from which the sample was collected as well as indication of whether the above-ground vegetation was clipped (cut). Habitat types included unvegetated, open sediment habitat adjacent to either Ruppia or Thalassia beds (Open), Thalassia sp. seagrass beds (Thalassia), Ruppia sp. seagrass beds (Ruppia), Thalassia sp. manually cut at the sediment surface and removed prior to sample collection (Cut Thalassia), and Ruppia sp. manually cut at the sediment surface and removed prior to sample collection (Cut Ruppia). 8. Light.Dark - Description: A category that pertains to the condition of each chamber during SOD measurements (for cores with accompanying SOD data). Light (L) corresponds with chambers that permitted ambient light to penetrate into the chamber to facilitate photosynthesis. Dark (D) corresponds with chambers that were constructed to exclude ambient light to minimize the dissolved oxygen contribution from photosynthesis. Light or Dark conditions are not relevant for whole infauna cores, therefore entries here for these cores are left as NA. 9. Core Type - Description: Indication of whether the core was collected with corresponding oxygen consumption data (M) or without (W). 10. Core Diameter - Description: Diameter (cm) of acrylic tube used for sample collection. FUNCTIONAL GROUP DATA 1. Size category: A one-letter code used to designate the size range of a mature individual of each functional group: (interstitial [I], small: less than 2 cm [S], medium: 2-20 cm [M], large: more than 20 cm [L]). 2. Habitat category: A one-letter code used to designate which position in the water column each functional group spends the majority of its life exploiting: (pelagic [P], epifaunal [E], infaunal [I], symbiotic [S]). 3. Motility category: A one-letter code used to describe the type of movement the functional group utilizes (motile [m], discretely motile [D], sessile [S]). 4. Feeding mode: A one to three letter code which designates different feeding modes: (Micro/suspension [S], Micro/surface deposit [D], Micro/Subsurface deposit [SD], Funnel feeder [F], Macro/Herbivore [H], Macro/Carnivore [C], Omnivore [O], Osmotroph [M], Parasitic [P], Alternates suspension/deposit feeding [ALT]). 5. Food Delivery: A one-letter code which designates different feeding delivery mechanisms: (tentacle or palps or tube feet [T], mucus net [M], muscular eversible pharynx [P], nonmuscular eversible pharynx [N], ramified or lamellar surfaces [L], other [O], siphonate [S], asiphonate [A], claws/raptorial appendages [C], filtering mouthparts/appendages [F], radula [R]). 6. Unique Functional Group Code - Description: a unique code consisting of the previous five categories. 7. Core IDs - Description: From this column onwards are core IDs associated with each sample. The data represent abundances (individuals per square meter) of each functional group per sample. The physical and environmental properties of each core are detailed in the associated Core ID data sheet.
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