A Biogeographic Assessment of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary - Kriged Probability Map of Zooplankton Samples

Zooplankton communities have been well studied in the northeast Atlantic (Sherman et al., 1983) and on Georges Bank within the Gulf of Maine (Bigelow, 1927; Davis, 1984; Backus, 1987; Kane, 1993; Pershing et al., 2004). Few studies have examined zooplankton spatial patterns within the Gulf of Maine. Twelve years (1977-1988) of zooplankton data from the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Marine Resources Monitoring Assessment and Prediction Program (MARMAP) were obtained to examine spatial and temporal patterns. A subset of the entire database was selected to include all zooplankton surveys in the Gulf of Maine during this time period (Figure 1.7.4). Overall, 6,864 samples were collected within this area; sampling methodology is described in Sibunka and Silverman (1989).