TITLE: Readme- HLY0403-JOSSBenthic P.I.(S): Jackie Grebmeier, Lee Cooper 10515 Research Dr. Suite 100, Bldg. A Marine Biochemistry & Ecology Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Tennessee, Knoxville Knoxville, TN 37932 tel: +1 865.974.2990 or +1 865.974.2592 fax: +1 865.974.7896 email: jgrebmei@utk.edu or lcooper1@utk.edu website: http://arctic.bio.utk.edu and http://sbi.utk.edu FUNDING SOURCE/GRANT NUMBER: NSF OPP0125082 DATASET OVERVIEW: This dataset contains benthic infaunal abundance, biomass (g/m2), carbon-converted biomass (gC/m2), and numbers of taxa for each station Station dates and locations are also provided. This file also lists the top three benthic taxa for abundance, formalin-preserved wet weight biomass (g/m2), and carbon-converted biomass (gC/m2) at each station. Samples included in this dataset were collected from July 16 - August 26, 2004 from the United States Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy(WAGB-20). This sampling on Healy was funded through the Shelf-Basin Interactions project, which is funded by both the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTION: A van Veen grab (0.1 m2 sediment grab), weighted with 32 kg of lead was used in the collection of fauna. Fauna were collected on 1 mm sieve mesh and preserved in 10% formalin buffered with hexamethylenetetramine. Species identification was undertaken following the cruise in a shore-based laboratory at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. DATA FORMAT File Names (Formats): HLY0403bensum.txt (Tab delimited text file) HLY0403bensum.xls (Microsoft Excel 5.1/02 file) Naming Convention: CruiseName-"JOSS"Variable.filetype (ex. HLY0402-JOSSO-18.txt) Data Format and Layout: Ship - HLY: "Healy", USCG Icebreaker WAGB-20 Year - 04 : year, 2004 Cruise# - 03 : cruise number for the ship for that year Station# - sequentially numbered from beginning to end of cruise Station Name - based on transect names, the lower station numbers on each transect were at shallower depths. HV : Herald Valley WHS : West Hanna Shoal EHS : East Hanna Shoal BC : Barrow Canyon EB : East Barrow Abundance(#/m2) - number of benthic infaunal individuals per square meter Biomass(g/m2) - grams of benthic infaunal formalin-preserved wet weight biomass per square meter Biomass(gC/m2) Ð dry grams of carbon in the infaunal biomass per square meter, by multiplying carbon conversion numbers and the wet weight biomass above. The carbon conversions use the methods of Stoker (1978) and Grebmeier et al. 1989: Stoker, S. W. (1978), Benthic invertebrate macrofauna of the eastern continental shelf of the Bering/Chukchi Seas., Ph.D. thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Grebmeier, J. M., Howard M. Feder and C. Peter McRoy (1989), Pelagic-benthic coupling on the shelf of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. II. Benthic community structure, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 51, 253-268. Taxa# - number of benthic taxa per square meter Abundance: Top 3 - lists the top three most abundant benthic taxa at that station % - percent of the total benthic abundance at that station for that taxa Biomass(g/m2):Top 3 - lists the top three benthic taxa that contribute to the wet-weight (w.w.) biomass for that station % - percent of the total w.w. biomass at that station for that taxa Biomass(gC/m2):Top 3 - lists the top three benthic taxa that contribute to the carbon-converted biomass for that station % - percent of the total c.c. biomass at that station for that taxa Data Version Number and Date: Version 1, month/day/year: 8/24/06 Software Compatibility: This dataset is made available here as a Microsoft Excel 5.1/02 file and as a tab-delimited text file.