AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Seastar & Macroinvertebrate Dynamics - BC Central Coast

The seastar & macroinvertebrate dynamics dataset is a component of the Hakai Institute’s Nearshore research and monitoring program, designed to capture change in rocky intertidal habitats. The overarching objective of Hakai Nearshore research is to investigate the role of habitats and their associated communities, in the face of stress and disturbances from global climate change and local coastal perturbations. 

The Pisaster ochraceous community was assessed from 2017-2023 at three coastal sites along the northwest edge of Calvert Island on the Central Coast of British Columbia. All three sites were exposed rocky shorelines containing high abundances of P. ochraceous. The abundance, size, and health of  P. ochraceous was surveyed within defined swaths of habitat delineated by transects. Other echinoderm species and Katharina tunicata chitons were also surveyed. The sites were surveyed on an approximately monthly basis from May-September.

This data package is freely available to everyone, following the principles of equitable access and benefit sharing. However, we expect all data users to give attribution to the data providers (read our data license) and the use of these data should happen in the light of fair use, i.e.: 1) respect the data providers, and provide helpful feedback on data quality, and 2) communicate and/or collaborate with the providers if you are considering using this dataset for manuscripts or other forms of reporting.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Folger Pinnacle Current Meter Deployed 2012-08-29

The Nortek Aquadopp Current Meter ASL2552 AQD2565 was deployed on 2012-08-29 at Folger Pinnacle. Folger Pinnacle is an isolated pillar-like feature in Folger Passage, where biodiversity and coastal ecosystems are observed. This device is a Current Meter. Acoustic Current Meters (ACM) measure current speed and direction, using the Doppler Effect. Aquadopp current meters have a sensor head that contains 3 acoustic transducers, a tilt sensor, a temperature sensor and a pressure sensor. The instrument transmits a short pulse of sound, and then listens to its echo to measure the change in pitch or frequency. The change in pitch can determine the velocity of the current. It was deployed on a fixed platform. Data from this deployment were archived and made available through Ocean Networks Canada's Oceans 3.0 digital infrastructure, with quality assurance and derived data products following established practices.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Time Series from Fixed Platform on the British Columbia Central Coast (Provisional)

This dataset presents a collection of all the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) instruments deployed by the Hakai Institute and the University of Victoria in the different study areas of the Hakai Institute near Calvert Island along the central coast of British Columbia and Quadra Island in Northern Strait of Georgia. Most of the data come from the coastal region around Calvert Island starting from February 2019. For all deployments, the instruments were deployed on a seabed bottom frame and lowered to the seabed in an upward-looking configuration. All instruments are RDI Workhorse instruments of different frequencies.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Seagrass Site-Level Production on BC Central Coast

The Seagrass Site-Level Production dataset is a component of Hakai Institute’s Nearshore research and monitoring program, designed to determine the drivers of change in seagrass ecosystems. The overarching objective of Hakai Nearshore research is to investigate the role of habitats and their associated communities, in the face of stress and disturbances from global climate change and local coastal perturbations.

This data package contains seagrass (Zostera marina) primary production observations collected from May 2015 to August 2022, at long-term seagrass meadow monitoring sites on British Columbia’s Central Coast. SCUBA divers collected data from 9 sites annually and 1-3 sites seasonally along permanent 30m transects. Primary productivity data was collected during two concurrent, but separate surveys (i.e., different parameters, methodologies, and sample designs). The data files included in this data package are: 1) ‘Habitat’ surveys, focused on landscape-level habitat variables (e.g., substrate type, subdominant vegetation, adjacent habitat types, seagrass patchiness), and 2) ‘Density’ surveys measuring seagrass specific variables at a finer scale (e.g., seagrass shoot density, and canopy height). Data included here are a subset of the Hakai Institute’s seagrass monitoring dataset.

This data package is freely available to everyone, following the principles of equitable access and benefit sharing. However, we expect all data users to give attribution to the data providers (read our data license) and the use of these data should happen in the light of fair use, i.e.: 1) respect the data providers, and provide helpful feedback on data quality, and 2) communicate and/or collaborate with the providers if you are considering using this dataset for manuscripts or other forms of reporting.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Seastar & Macroinvertebrate Dynamics - BC Central Coast - 2016-2017

The Seastar & Macroinvertebrate Dynamics dataset is a component of the Hakai Institute’s Nearshore research and monitoring program, designed to capture change in rocky intertidal habitats. The overarching objective of Hakai Nearshore research is to investigate the role of habitats and their associated communities  in the face of stress and disturbances from global climate change and local coastal perturbations. 

The Pisaster ochraceus community was assessed from 2016-2017 at three coastal sites along the northwest edge of Calvert Island on the Central Coast of British Columbia. All three sites were exposed rocky shorelines containing high abundances of P. ochraceus. The abundance, size, and health of  P. ochraceus was surveyed within large, defined plot areas at each site. Other echinoderm species and Katharina tunicata chitons were also surveyed. The sites were surveyed on an approximately monthly basis from May-September.

This data package is freely available to everyone, following the principles of equitable access and benefit sharing. However, we expect all data users to give attribution to the data providers (read our data license) and the use of these data should happen in the light of fair use, i.e.: 1) respect the data providers, and provide helpful feedback on data quality, and 2) communicate and/or collaborate with the providers if you are considering using this dataset for manuscripts or other forms of reporting.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Time series of quarterly kelp canopy extent from Landsat 5, 7, 8, and 9 since 1985

These data files represents a time series of surface kelp canopy area of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, and bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, derived from atmospherically corrected Landsat imagery: Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager 2 satellite imagery. Observations are made on a 16 day repeat cycle, for each instrument, but the temporal coverage is irregular because of cloud cover, instrument failure, and the mission length of each sensor (TM: 1984 – 2011, ETM+: 1999 – present, OLI: 2013 – present). 

The kelp canopy is composed of the portions of fronds and stipes floating on the surface of the water. Nearshore (within one Landsat pixel, ~30m) and low tide areas (both nearshore and offshore rocks) are masked during this process, therefore kelp canopy area within those areas are excluded in this dataset. See Bell et al. 2020 and 2023 for more details on methods. 

Data are organized into geotif files and contain the quarterly percent detections for each Landsat pixel across the four sensors. For example, if there were 5 clear passes of a pixel, and it was classified as kelp in 4 of them, then the pixel value is 80. Kelp presence data are given for individual 30 x 30 meter pixels for coastal areas the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. 

These data are suitable for investigating kelp dynamics at large spatial scales and consideration should be made in their use for any given analysis. Local-scale analyses where species level data are needed, or where kelp is fringing and sparse should use higher spatial resolution imagery for mapping (e.g. fixed-wing surveys or drone surveys). 

Dataset currently updated through 2023 and is under review. Dataset point of contact: Luba Reshitnyk, Henry Houskeeper and Tom Bell.

For detailed method refer to these articles:

Bell TW, Cavanaugh KC, Saccomanno VR, Cavanaugh KC, Houskeeper HF, Eddy N, et al. (2023) Kelpwatch: A new visualization and analysis tool to explore kelp canopy dynamics reveals variable response to and recovery from marine heatwaves. PLoS ONE 18(3): e0271477. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271477

Bell, T.W., Allen, J.G., Cavanaugh, K.C., & Siegel, D.A. (2020). Three decades of variability in California's giant kelp forests from the Landsat satellites. Remote Sensing of Environment, 238, 110811.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Spatial extent of surface canopy kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) derived from fixed-wing surveys (2023), Denman Island to south Quadra Island, British Columbia, Canada

This dataset consists of a spatial dataset of digitized surface canopy extent for bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) for the North Salish Sea on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada. This data was collected in partnership with Brian Timmer, a PhD student at the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC) as part of his doctoral research project examining historical changes in algal communities in the northern Strait of Georgia and as part of the Hakai Institute Habitat Mapping Program which includes long-term observations in canopy kelp extent.
Spatial datasets of kelp canopy were derived from high resolution aerial imagery (10 cm) collected from fixed-wing aerial surveys flown 2023. Imagery was collected July 3rd, 2023 at a tide height between 0.6 and 2.4 m with flight paths conducted from north to south in the area of interest. The survey window was based on obtaining imagery during maximum kelp extent and during a low tide cycle.
Imagery Capture: Four-band imagery (RGB-NIR) was collected using two high resolution cameras aboard the Aerial Coastal Observatory (a fixed-wing aircraft). Imagery collection and orthomosaic processing is described in associated reports linked in this record.
Kelp delineation: Surface kelp canopy is represented by polygons which were digitized using the Kelp-O-Matic machine learning tool. This tool automates the detection of surface canopy kelp from 4 band imagery and was developed by Hakai to segment remotely sensed imagery specifically for kelp presence. Spatial outputs from the Kelp-O-Matic were reviewed and manually edited by a trained analyst where necessary.
People involved with dataset processing, analysis and/or submission: Luba Reshitnyk, Alex Guyn, Brian Timmer. 

Recommended citation: Reshitnyk, L., Timmer, B., Guyn, A., & Baum, J. (2024). Spatial extent of surface canopy kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) derived from fixed-wing surveys (2023), Denman Island to south Quadra Island, British Columbia, Canada (v1.0). https://doi.org/10.21966/fmw1-8w35

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Dataset for article: 'Migration timing affects the foraging ecology of Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada'

This data package contains zooplankton taxonomy and biomass data, and stomach contents from juvenile sockeye salmon migrating through the Discovery Islands and Johnstone Strait in 2015 and 2016. These data were collected to inform our understanding of early marine survival with special attention to inter and intra differences in zooplankton prey as it relates to the timing of juvenile sockeye salmon. These data are from the article 'Migration timing affects the foraging ecology of Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada' published in Marine Ecology Press Series.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Island Food Web Study - Central Coast Islands (100 Islands Project) - April to July 2015, 2016, & 2017

This dataset contains raw stable isotope data for various taxa, and cleaned data used for analysis in Obrist et al. (2021), Biogeographic features mediate marine subsidies to terrestrial food webs. It also includes meta-data for all datafiles.

In this study, we have evaluated the enrichment of soil, plants, invertebrates, and songbirds using δ15N and δ13C stable isotopes, as well as a measure of available nitrogen (%N) on 97 islands. We determined the effects of island size, wrack biomass, island slope, and distance to shore at which the sample was collected.
The first data file, named “food-webs-ibt-2021.csv”, runs with the ibt-percent-n.RMD, ibt-d13c.RMD, and ibt-d15n.RMD scripts. It includes δ15N, δ13C, %N, and %C values of soil, salal (Gaultheria shallon), false lily-of-the-valley (Maiathemum dilatatum), herbivorous weevils (Curculionidae), detritivorous isopods (Isopoda), carnivorous ground-dwelling beetles (Coleoptera), as well as songbird feces and feather (rectrix) samples.

Data files named “ibt-sem-data-2021.csv” and “ibt-sem-data-2021-plants-combined.csv” run with the ibt-sem.RMD script. In this script, we outline decisions made in fitting structural equation models to track nutrient flow through island food webs. We find multicollinearity in our initial approach (using the “ibt-sem-data-2021.csv” file), and end up taking average values of δ15N and δ13C of all plant samples on each island for a single, island-wide plant δ15N and δ13C value for analysis (in “ibt-sem-data-2021-plants-combined.csv”).

Obrist DS, Ernst CE, Fitzpatrick OT, Kennedy JC, Nijland W, Reshitnyk L, Wickham SB, Darimont CT, Starzomski BM, Reynolds JD. https://doi.org/10.21966/8j4j-7039

Scripts can be accessed from https://github.com/debobrist/food-web-ibt.

April through July in 2015, 2016, and 2017

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Seawater Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Content from the SuperCO2 System in the Pacific Ecosystem Autonomous Research Laboratory, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, BC, Canada (Provisional)

The Pacific Ecosystem Autonomous Research Laboratory (PEARL) at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre has been a site for shore-based and high-resolution measurement of surface seawater CO2 content since August 2025. Measurements of in situ temperature, salinity, and CO2 partial pressure are made near-continuously on seawater drawn from a sample line with an intake 15 m from shore and a depth of 1 m in Barkley Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The effort to collect these data are part of the Hakai Institute’s mission to advance the understanding of carbon cycling in northeast Pacific coastal settings with specific emphasis on ocean acidification. This data contribution consists of provisional measurements spanning the current year.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Seawater Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Content from the Burke-o-Lator pCO2/TCO2 Analyzer located at Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, Bamfield, BC, Canada (Provisional)

This dataset includes measurements of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2), temperature, and salinity made on seawater drawn continuously from a 20-m intake at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre in Bamfield, BC, Canada. The collection of these data utilizes a Burke-o-Lator (BoL) pCO2/TCO2 analyzer and began August 30, 2023. The Burke-o-Lator (BoL) pCO2/TCO2 analyzer measures carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) and total dissolved inorganic carbon (TCO2) from a flow-through seawater stream and from seawater collected in discrete samples. The BoL is paired with a SBE 45 Thermosalinograph to measure seawater temperature and salinity. These data provide valuable information on patterns in marine carbonate chemistry and ocean acidification within Barkley Sound waters being supplied to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre and the Nova Harvest Ltd. shellfish hatchery.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Surface Seawater and Marine Boundary Layer CO2 Time Series from the Kwakshua Channel (KC) Buoy, Central Coast, BC, Canada (Provisional)

Kwakshua Channel, located near Fitz Hugh Sound on the central coast of British Columbia, has been a site for moored, high-resolution measurements of surface seawater and marine boundary layer CO2 content since May 2018. Measurements of in situ temperature, salinity, seawater and atmospheric CO2 partial pressure are made using a Battelle Seaology (MApCO2) System. The effort to collect these data are part of the Hakai Institute’s directive to advance the understanding of carbon cycling in northeast Pacific coastal settings with specific emphasis on ocean acidification. This data contribution consists of measurements since May 1, 2018.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Phytoplankton Pigment Timeseries from High-Performance Liquid Chromatography for the Northern Salish Sea and Central Coast, BC, Canada (Research)

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a method that quantifies concentrations of phytoplankton pigments from bulk water samples. Phytoplankton species groupings (i.e. diatoms, dinoflagellates, etc.) typically contain different pigments, and concentrations of pigments, used for photosynthesis. These differences make it possible to use statistical methods (e.g. chemotaxonomic analysis, CHEMTAX) to estimate phytoplankton group-level biomass contributions within a bulk water sample. These methods provide unique and valuable insight into phytoplankton community dynamics as they quantify the full phytoplankton size-spectrum, are relatively fast and cost-effective and, are directly relatable to remote sensing (i.e. pigments drive differences in light measured by satellites). Furthermore, HPLC is considered the gold-standard for quantifying phytoplankton total chlorophyll a concentrations (TChla, proxy for bulk phytoplankton biomass) required for satellite remote sensing validation.

The Hakai institute has been collecting HPLC samples in the northern Salish Sea (NSS) at the QU39 long-term ecological research (LTER) station and at various stations on the central coast of British Columbia since 2015. These data are used to monitor phytoplankton group level dynamics, build knowledge of different environmental conditions driving their variability (Del Bel Belluz et al., 2021), investigate linkages to the food web and carbonate system, evaluate long-term change and, to build regional remote sensing models (Vishnu et al., 2022). Data from station QU39 within the NSS are collected weekly and from 2015-2019 at 5m depth and afterwards at 0, 5, 10 and 20m depth. On the central coast of British Columbia, data are collected monthly at 5m depth. 

Samples are analyzed at the University of South Carolina Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences using the USC method. This method was evaluated and is detailed in the NASA Fourth SeaWiFS HPLC Analysis Round-Robin Experiment (SeaHARRE-4, Hooker et al., 2010).

Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food web and play key roles in biogeochemical cycling and carbon sequestration. The high turnover rates of phytoplankton species make them ideal sentinels of environmental change as they quickly respond to perturbations; however, a paucity of data, notably in terms of community composition, exists across coastal systems hindering the derivation of baseline conditions to assess change. This knowledge gap is especially pertinent when considering that coastal regions are experiencing rapid climate-driven change including increased temperature and acidification, reduced oxygen and altered freshwater dynamics. The synergy of these influences has the potential to alter phytoplankton community and size structure having large downstream implications on ecosystem resiliency, food production and climate regulation.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Endeavour South Current Meter Deployed 2024-06-16

The Nortek Aquadopp Current Meter A3L5380 AQD8375 was deployed on 2024-06-16 at Endeavour South. This south section of the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents includes two moorings to monitor the regional circulation. This device is a Current Meter. Acoustic Current Meters (ACM) measure current speed and direction, using the Doppler Effect. Aquadopp current meters have a sensor head that contains 3 acoustic transducers, a tilt sensor, a temperature sensor and a pressure sensor. The instrument transmits a short pulse of sound, and then listens to its echo to measure the change in pitch or frequency. The change in pitch can determine the velocity of the current. It was deployed on a fixed platform. Data from this deployment were archived and made available through Ocean Networks Canada's Oceans 3.0 digital infrastructure, with quality assurance and derived data products following established practices.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Marine CO2 system variability along the Inside Passage of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America determined from an Alaskan ferry

Information on marine CO2 system variability has been limited along the Inside Passage of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America despite the region’s rich biodiversity, abundant fisheries, and developing aquaculture industry. Beginning in 2017, the Alaska Marine Highway System M/V Columbia has served as a platform for surface underway data collection while conducting twice weekly ~1600-km transits between Bellingham, Washington and Skagway, Alaska. Provided here is the gap-filled CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) record including measurements of seawater pCO2 and pH described in our manuscript. A second dataset of discrete measurements of seawater pCO2 and total dissolved inorganic carbon (TCO2) is also provided.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific
Sea star microbiome data from 16S amplicon sequencing associated with rocky intertidal sites on Calvert and Quadra Islands

This data package contains field and genomic data pertaining to the manuscript 'Multi-year study of sea star microbiomes reveals regional and host-specific differences and differentially abundant taxa across wasting disease stages'. 

This data package is a component of the Hakai Institute’s Nearshore research and monitoring program, designed to capture change in rocky intertidal habitats. As part of the on-going rocky intertidal surveys on both Calvert and Quadra Islands, dermal swab samples were collected for three years within each region for a more detailed investigation of the microbiomes associated with two sea star species - the ochre star Pisaster ochraceus and the leather star Dermasterias imbricata. Seawater samples were also collected adjacent to the site during each survey to examine background microbial communities. DNA was extracted from swab and seawater samples and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was targeted for microbial community profiling. Data were then analyzed to examine patterns in microbial communities across the different sample types, regions, seasons and stages of wasting disease within P. ochraceus. 

This data package is freely available to everyone, following the principles of equitable access and benefit sharing. However, we expect all data users to give attribution to the data providers (read our data license) and the use of these data should happen in the light of fair use, i.e.: 1) respect the data providers, and provide helpful feedback on data quality, and 2) communicate and/or collaborate with the providers if you are considering using this dataset for manuscripts or other forms of reporting.

Organization: CIOOS-Pacific