Arctic epifauna abundance and biomass, Fall2023, AMBON project

Sampling event Specimen
Latest version published by NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System on Jul 16, 2025 NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System
Publication date:
16 July 2025
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 19 records in English (36 KB) - Update frequency: as needed
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Metadata as an RTF file download in English (9 KB)

Description

This file contains data on abundance and biomass of epifaunal organisms in the northern Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea from Fall 2023

Data Records

The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 19 records.

2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Event (core)
19
ExtendedMeasurementOrFact 
1362
Occurrence 
681

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Iken K (2025). Arctic epifauna abundance and biomass, Fall2023, AMBON project. Version 1.0. NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System. Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=arcticepifauna2023&v=1.0

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: f2d6ce68-d708-43f4-b6d7-4bc5db7f335e.  NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF-US.

Keywords

Samplingevent; Specimen

Contacts

Katrin Iken
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator ●
  • Point Of Contact
University of Alaska Fairbanks
99775 FAIRBANKS
AK
US
Adrienne Canino
  • Programmer
Axiom Data Science
99501 Anchorage
AK
US
Laura Brenskelle
  • Publisher
U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System
US
Mathew Biddle
  • Distributor
  • Physical Scientist
United States Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (US MBON)
  • 1315 East-West Highway
20910 Silver Spring
MD
US

Geographic Coverage

Sampling region is the norther Bering Sea and the US Chukchi Sea shelf

Bounding Coordinates South West [60.24, -177.891], North East [71.965, -158.555]

Taxonomic Coverage

No Description available

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2023-09-15 / 2023-10-01

Project Data

The Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) project is part of the US MBON program. The Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) is designed to provide high-quality biodiversity data from the Arctic Chukchi Sea across trophic levels, from microbes to whales. Here, data on the epifainal communities are provided

Title Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) – linking biodiversity observations in the Arctic
Funding NASA: 80NSSC22K1780 ONR: N00014-22-1-2792
Study Area Description The northern Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea are shallow Arctic shelf systems in US waters. They are characterized by high nutrient inputs, which makes them very productive. These Arctic Ocean marginal seas are among the fastest-warming regions in the world, with ecosystem changes across all trophic levels that carry repercussions to ecosystem function.

The personnel involved in the project:

Katrin Iken
  • Principal Investigator

Sampling Methods

Samples were taken with a plumb-staff beam trawl with a 2.26-m opening and a 7-mm mesh net with a 4-mm cod end liner. Tows were generally between 3-5 min at a tow speed of 1.5 knots.

Study Extent Epibenthic data were collected in early fall 2023 in the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea

Method step description:

  1. Once on deck, the catch was sorted into major taxa and weighed and counted on board. Based on the trawled area, overall biomass and abundance as catch per unit effort (CPUE) were determined in g wet weight 1000 m-2 and number of individuals 1000 m-2, respectively.

Additional Metadata

Acknowledgements These data were collected as part of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON), a member of the Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (MBON). The work was funded through The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, 80NSSC22K1780) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR, N00014-22-1-2792).
Introduction Epibenthic communities play important roles in Arctic shelf systems based on their high biomass that is critical in pelagic-benthic coupling, mineralization of organic matter, and as a food source for many higher trophic levels such as fish, whales, seals, walrus, and humans. 
Purpose This dataset provides quantitative biomass and abundance data for a wide range of epifaunal taxa collected with a beam trawl. Taxa are mostly identified to species or genus level but many also identified to higher taxonomic levels. These data collected in 2023 can be compared to other data from previous of later years for temporal patterns. 
Alternative Identifiers https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=arcticepifauna2023