DFO Pacific IOS zooplankton database - Zooplankton samples collected during cruises to the Canadian Arctic, 2006-2009

Zooplankton are an essential component of marine ecosystems. Understanding the distribution, abundance and community composition of marine zooplankton is essential for understanding overall ecosystem function. Monitoring of the status and trends of marine zooplankton informs decision making around issues of sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and adaptation to changing conditions. To this end we report zooplankton presence data based on samples collected from Canadian Coast Guard ice breakers traveling to and within arctic waters. This data will be useful for understanding marine zooplankton ecology and hence provide insight into overall ecosystem status and function. This resource contains zooplankton species presence information obtained between 2006 and 2009 inclusive.