Dataset Information

Five decades (1972-2020) of zooplankton monitoring in the upper San Francisco Estuary.

ABSTRACT: We present the longest available dataset (by 15 years) of estuarine zooplankton abundance worldwide. Zooplankton have been monitored throughout the upper San Francisco Estuary from 1972 -present due to its status as a central hub of California water delivery and home to commercially important and endangered fishes. We integrated data from five monitoring programs, including over 300 locations, three size-classes of zooplankton targeted with different gears, over 80,000 samples, and over two billion sampled organisms. Over the duration of this dataset, species invasions have driven community turnover, periodic droughts have occurred, and important fishes have declined, likely due in part to reduced food supply from zooplankton. Data from the individual surveys have been used in prior studies on issues related to species invasions, flows, fish diets and population dynamics, zooplankton population dynamics, and community ecology. Our integrated dataset offers unparalleled spatio-temporal scope to address these and other fundamental ecological questions.

SUBMITTER: Bashevkin SM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8920236 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Five decades (1972-2020) of zooplankton monitoring in the upper San Francisco Estuary.

Bashevkin Samuel M SM Hartman Rosemary R Thomas Madison M Barros Arthur A Burdi Christina E CE Hennessy April A Tempel Trishelle T Kayfetz Karen K

PloS one 20220314 3

We present the longest available dataset (by 15 years) of estuarine zooplankton abundance worldwide. Zooplankton have been monitored throughout the upper San Francisco Estuary from 1972 -present due to its status as a central hub of California water delivery and home to commercially important and endangered fishes. We integrated data from five monitoring programs, including over 300 locations, three size-classes of zooplankton targeted with different gears, over 80,000 samples, and over two bill ...[more]

PMID: 35286360

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Project description:While flow is known to be a major driver of estuarine ecosystems, targeted flow manipulations are rare because tidal systems are extremely variable in space and time, and because the necessary infrastructure is rarely available. In summer 2018 we used a unique water control structure in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) to direct a managed flow pulse into Suisun Marsh, one of the largest contiguous tidal marshes on the west coast of the United States. The action was designed to increase habitat suitability for the endangered Delta Smelt Hypomesus transpacificus, a small osmerid fish endemic to the upper SFE. The approach was to operate the Suisun Marsh Salinity Control Gates (SMSCG) in conjunction with increased Sacramento River tributary inflow to direct an estimated 160 x 106 m3 pulse of low salinity water into Suisun Marsh during August, a critical time period for juvenile Delta Smelt rearing. Three-dimensional modeling showed that directing additional low salinity water into Suisun Marsh ("Flow Action") substantially increased the area of low salinity habitat for Delta Smelt that persisted beyond the period of SMSCG operations. Field monitoring showed that turbidity and chlorophyll were at higher levels in Suisun Marsh, representing better habitat conditions, than the upstream Sacramento River region throughout the study period. The Flow Action had no substantial effects on zooplankton abundance, nor did Suisun Marsh show enhanced levels of these prey species in comparison to the Sacramento River. Fish monitoring data suggested that small numbers of Delta Smelt colonized Suisun Marsh from the Sacramento River during the 2018 Flow Action. Comparison of the salinity effects of the Flow Action to historical catch data for Suisun Marsh further supported our hypothesis that the Flow Action would have some benefit for this rare species. Our study provides insight into both the potential use of targeted flow manipulations to support endangered fishes such as Delta Smelt, and into the general response of estuarine habitat to flow management.

Dataset Information

Five decades (1972-2020) of zooplankton monitoring in the upper San Francisco Estuary.

Publications

Five decades (1972-2020) of zooplankton monitoring in the upper San Francisco Estuary.

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