Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

These data represent a merging of electronic data collected from the MOCNESS sensor systems and the count data from the samples collected with the net tows. Some nets were used for zooplankton samples (see http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/564755) , while others were collected specifically to estimate bay anchovy concentrations. These are contained on different sheets, and the count data was merged individually.  This dataset represents the bay anchovy counts and abundance.

These data were collected with the MOCNESS system from the ship.

Electronic data was post-processed by PI Pierson. Zooplankton sorting data was analyzed, processed, and quality controlled in PI Pierson's lab. Bay Anchovy sorted data was analyzed, processed, and quality controlled in co-PI Houde's lab

DMO adjustments:  removed station latitude and longitude because MOCNESS tow start latitudes and longitudes are better.  Removed MOCNESS-recorded times and used GPS times instead, which is much more accurate .  Removed MOCNESS min and max depths due to occasional blocked pressure sensor. (PI, personal communication)

Description from NSF award abstract:
The occurrence of low-oxygen waters, often called "dead zones" in coastal ecosystems throughout the world is increasing. Despite these increases, the pelagic food-web consequences of low-oxygen waters remain poorly understood. Laboratory research has demonstrated that hypoxic water (< 2 mg l-1) can result in mortality, reduced fitness and lower egg production of planktonic copepods, a major link in food webs supporting pelagic fish. Observations in the sea indicate that hypoxic bottom waters usually have depressed abundances of copepods compared to normoxic waters (> 2 mg l-1). The gradient of declining oxygen concentration with respect to depth (oxycline) can be a critical interface in coastal pelagic ecosystems by altering the migratory behavior and depth distribution of copepods and their spatial coherence with potential predators and prey. This project will result in a mechanistic understanding of how behavior and fitness of copepods are affected by hypoxia. The PIs will compare bottom-up and top-down controls on the ecology of copepods in Chesapeake Bay waters experiencing seasonal hypoxia and those that are normoxic.

Specific objectives of this project are to:
1) analyze changes in migratory behavior and fine-scale (meter) distribution of copepods across the oxycline over hourly and diel time scales while simultaneously examining the distribution and abundance of their food (phytoplankton and microzooplankton) and predators (fish, gelatinous zooplankton);
2) estimate effects of hypoxia on the "fitness" of copepods using a suite of measurements (length/weight ratios, feeding, egg production, and egg hatching success) to develop condition indices of copepods captured at different times and depths in hypoxic and normoxic waters; and
3) evaluate effects of hypoxia on copepod mortality by hypoxia-induced, stage-specific copepod mortality in hypoxic bottom waters and by changes in top-down control of copepods from predation by fish and gelatinous zooplankton.

Oxyclines may be a barrier to vertical migration of copepods and thus disruptive to predator avoidance behavior. Faced with increased predation risk from fish and jellyfish, copepods may seek refuge in hypoxic waters for part of the day and/or make short-term vertical excursions between hypoxic and normoxic waters. By regulating vertical migrations, copepods may increase utilization of microzooplankton prey concentrated in the oxycline. Hypoxic waters may elevate consumption of copepods by jellyfish and depress consumption by pelagic fish. This project will evaluate copepod distribution and migration behavior, individual fitness and stage-specific mortality in hypoxic and normoxic waters. It will examine food-web consequences of increased or decreased spatial coherence of copepods and their predators and prey in regions with hypoxic bottom waters and will contribute to fundamental understanding of food-web processes in eutrophic coastal ecosystems.

Project acronym "DeZoZoo" = "Dead Zone Zooplankton"