Description

Bivalve aquaculture has direct and indirect effects on plankton communities, which are highly sensitive to short-term (seasonal, interannual) and long-term climate changes, although how these dynamics alter aquaculture ecosystem interactions is poorly understood. Here, we investigate seasonal patterns in plankton abundance and community structure spanning several size fractions from 0.2 µm up to 5 mm, in a deep aquaculture embayment in northeast Newfoundland, Canada. Using flow cytometry and FlowCam imaging, we observed a clear seasonal relationship between fraction sizes driven by water column stratification (freshwater input, nutrient availability, light availability, water temperature). Plankton abundance decreased proportionally with increasing size fraction, aligning with size spectra theory. Within the bay, greater mesozooplankton abundance, and a greater relative abundance of copepods, was observed closest to the aquaculture lease. No significant spatial effect was observed for phytoplankton composition. While the months of August to October showed statistically similar plankton composition and size spectra slopes (i.e., food chain efficiency) and could be used for interannual variability comparisons of plankton composition, sampling for longer periods could capture long-term phenological shifts in plankton abundance and composition related to various processes, including climate change. Conclusions provide guidance on optimal sampling to monitor and assess aquaculture pathways of effects. Cite this data as: Sharpe H, Lacoursière-Roussel A, Gallardi D (2024). Ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions. Version 3.2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Sampling event dataset. https://doi.org/10.25607/2ujdvh

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Name	Format	Description	Link
Data dictionary	CSV		https://api-proxy.edh-cde.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/catalogue/records/e00f1e31-e567-44ce-a786-42fd76c175a7/attachments/Data_Dictionary.csv
Event data of the ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions	Unknown		https://api-proxy.edh-cde.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/catalogue/records/e00f1e31-e567-44ce-a786-42fd76c175a7/attachments/Ecological%20seasonal%20plankton%20monitor%20shellfish%20aquaculture%20ecosystem.zip
Event data of the ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions	CSV		https://api-proxy.edh-cde.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/catalogue/records/e00f1e31-e567-44ce-a786-42fd76c175a7/attachments/Event.csv
Extended measurement or facts data of the ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions	CSV		https://api-proxy.edh-cde.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/catalogue/records/e00f1e31-e567-44ce-a786-42fd76c175a7/attachments/ExtendedMeasurementorFact.csv
Occurrence data of the ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions	CSV		https://api-proxy.edh-cde.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/catalogue/records/e00f1e31-e567-44ce-a786-42fd76c175a7/attachments/Occurrence.csv
Ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions	Ersi REST		https://egisp.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/open_data_donnees_ouvertes/ecological_insight_of_seasonal_plankton_succession/MapServer
Ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions	Ersi REST		https://egisp.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/open_data_donnees_ouvertes/ecological_insight_of_seasonal_plankton_succession/MapServer

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