KRILLBASE: a circumpolar database of Antarctic krill and salp numerical densities, 1926–2016

Abstract

Abstract. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and salps are major macroplankton contributors to Southern Ocean food webs and krill are also fished commercially. Managing this fishery sustainably, against a backdrop of rapid regional climate change, requires information on distribution and time trends. Many data on the abundance of both taxa have been obtained from net sampling surveys since 1926, but much of this is stored in national archives, sometimes only in notebooks. In order to make these important data accessible we have collated available abundance data (numerical density, no. m−2) of postlarval E. superba and salps (combined aggregate and solitary stages and species) into a central database, KRILLBASE, together with environmental information, standardisation and metadata. The aim is to provide a temporal-spatial data resource to support a variety of research such as biogeochemistry, autecology, higher predator foraging and food web modelling in addition to fisheries management and conservation. Previous versions of KRILLBASE have led to a series of papers since 2004 which illustrate some of the potential uses of this database. With increasing numbers of requests for these data we here provide an updated version of KRILLBASE that contains data from 15,194 net hauls, including 12,758 with krill abundance data and 9,726 with salp abundance data. These data were collected by 10 nations and span 56 seasons in two epochs (1926–1939 and 1976–2016). Here, we illustrate the seasonal, inter-annual, regional and depth coverage of sampling, and provide both circumpolar- and regional-scale distribution maps. Krill abundance data have been standardised to accommodate variation in sampling methods, and we have presented these as well as the raw data. Information is provided on how to screen, interpret and use KRILLBASE to reduce artefacts in interpretation, with contact points for the main data providers.

Variability and change in the west Antarctic Peninsula marine system: Research priorities and opportunities

“…More effective engagement with other research communities, such as the climate science, meteorology, glaciology, terrestrial biogeochemistry and paleoclimate communities will be critical in defining the most important external controls on the WAP marine environment, the key fluxes into and out of the system, and the longer-term context of the changes underway. Improvements in data accessibility across disciplines and national programs is also called for, following the examples of the Palmer LTER project (http://pal.lternet.edu/data), the KRILLBASE database for zooplankton survey data (Atkinson et al 2017) and the Surface Ocean CO 2 Atlas (Bakker et al 2016). Widespread adoption of similar data policies and practices across the international community, and efficient linking of existing publicly available databases, for example using the SOOSmap online data portal (http://www.soos.aq/data/soosmap), would be of significant benefit.…”

Krill (Euphausia superba) distribution contracts southward during rapid regional warming

“…We have created a database, entitled "KRILLBASE-abundance 31 ", to rescue and collate all available data from untargeted net catches across the Southern Ocean. It was compiled through "data rescue" from old notebooks, the authors' datasets, published reports and submissions by other data contributors.…”

“…The chosen efficient sampling combination was a night-time haul with an 8 m 2 net from 0-200 m on 1 January. The statistical method of adjusting the krill density values to this sampling method, including model coefficients and sensitivity analysis, are described is previous papers 31,32 .…”

Modelling the life cycle of Salpa thompsoni

“…Salp observations for comparison were obtained from KRILLBASE and Loeb and Santora (2012). KRILLBASE is a freely available database containing S. thompsoni numerical densities in the Southern Ocean, spanning from 1926 to 2016 (Atkinson et al, 2017). Biomass index (i.e.…”