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

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265402
• Publication Date: 2022-03-14T17:38:11Z
• Authors: Samuel M. Bashevkin; Rosemary Hartman; Madison Thomas; Arthur Barros; Christina E. Burdi; April Hennessy; Trishelle Tempel; Karen Kayfetz
• Keywords: Gelatinous zooplankton

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