Data for: Transient shifts in Bering Sea shelf phytoplankton size structure in response to wind-induced mixing
Data files
May 29, 2025 version files 3.12 MB
Abstract
Phytoplankton play a major role in the global carbon cycle and provide food for primary consumers. Phytoplankton community size structure influences the deposition of organic matter to benthic food webs, and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. Phytoplankton assemblages that are dominated by small cells have low trophic transfer efficiency and high internal recycling, whereas food webs dominated by large phytoplankton have high energy transfer and shorter, more efficient food webs. Using the associated we assessed phytoplankton spring and summer community size variation on daily to seasonal scales in the Bering Sea over three years using moored profilers, random forest modeling, and ship survey data. We show that the spring bloom is dominated by large phytoplankton, followed by the predominance of small phytoplankton near the surface after the bloom. We find that summer wind mixing events result in short pulses of increases in large phytoplankton and enhanced primary production rates, particularly of larger cells, events that provide important dietary contributions to zooplankton consumers.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.70rxwdc95
Description of the data and file structure
Metadata file for Nielsen et al. (in review). Transient shifts in Bering Sea shelf phytoplankton size structure in response to wind-induced mixing
The following data files were used to create the analyses in the paper. File headings and units for each data column within files are defined. "NA" values denote not available.
In-situ measured survey data in the eastern Bering Sea (2003-2021).
File name: “BASIS_data_may2025_nielsen_v1.csv”
- total_chla: Total chlorophyll-a concentration (µg l-1)
- chla_greater10: chlorophyll-a concentration (µg l-1) of the greater than 10 µm size fraction
- surf_temp: surface layer temperature (°C)
- Bottom_depth: station sampling bottom depth (meters)
- Depth: sample depth (meters)
- Longitude: degree longitude (°W)
- Latitude: degree latitude (°N)
- date: date of sampling
Prawler modeled size fraction and measured total chl-a and environmental data from 2017-2019
File name: DRYAD_prawler_2017_2019_sizePredicted_1meter_Nielsen_may2025.csv
- Date: daily average estimate from the 2 hourly prawler data measurement and calculations
- round_depth: depth in 1 meter bins (unit: meters)
- total_chla: Total chlorophyll-a concentration (µg l-1)
- surf_temp: Surface layer temperature (above mixed layer depth), °C
- Latitude: degree latitude (°N)
- Longitude: degree longitude (°W)
- Bottom_depth: station sampling bottom depth (meters)
- pred_10great: modeled chlorophyll-a concentration (µg l-1) of greater than 10 µm
- frac_great10: proportion of greater than 10 µm chl-a relative to the total chl-a
- calc_10small: modeled chlorophyll-a concentration (µg l-1) of smaller than10 µm. Calculated based on subtraction of the predicted modeled large chl-a to the total chla
- frac_10small: proportion of smaller than 10 µm chl-a relative to the total chl-a
Note that the full Prawler and weather data are available at https://data.pmel.noaa.gov/pmel/erddap/tabledap/ecofoci_prawler.html and https://data.pmel.noaa.gov/pmel/erddap/tabledap/weatherpak_m2.html
Wind stress data from ERA5
File name: dryad_all_windstress_dataused_fig3_fig4_2017_2019_made_may2025_nielsen.csv
- time_ak: Time (Alaska time zone)
- u_star3 : hourly wind stress u*3 (m3 s-3)
- ustar3_1daysmooth: 1 spline smoothed wind stress u*3 (m3 s-3)
Daily NCP data from 2018
File name: DRYAD_noel_NCP_2018_raw_dailyCalcs_Nielsen_may2025.csv
- Doy: day of year (Julian date)
- NCP: daily net community production (µmol O2 l-1_ d-1)
* note that these data were previously used in Nielsen et al., (2023). citation Nielsen, J. M. and others 2023. Seasonal dynamics of primary production in the southeastern Bering Sea were assessed using continuous temporal and vertical dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll‐a measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans: e2022JC019076
Dataset for publication entitled " Transient shifts in Bering Sea shelf phytoplankton size structure in response to wind-induced mixing"
- insitu shipborne measured chl-a (total and size fracitions) for the Bering sea shelf
- Moored profiling crawler data from the M2 mooring site (Eastern Bering Sea)
- modeled size fraction data from the M2 mooring site (Eastern Bering Sea).
- Wind data used for analyses
For the most updated versions it is recommened to always contact Margaret Sullivan or Phyllis Stabeno (mooring data) and Jeanette Gann (survey chla data)