ZooST: Zooplankton over Space and Time

This working group formed during GLEON 21.5 to test the reproducibility of different Space-for-Time-substitution (SFTS) multi-lake “snapshot” surveys for zooplankton. This group will compile existing long-term data on zooplankton and other basic limnological variables (e.g. chlorophyll a, total phosphorus, temperature) to test the consistency of results under different permutations of SFTS surveys. SFTS permutations refer to the different ways snapshot lake surveys can be conducted when each lake is sampled only once during the field season. We will re-sample from the long-term data sets to simulate the permutations if each lake was sampled only once. For example, all lakes could be sampled on the same calendar date, the same phenological date (e.g., peak summer temperature), or at random times within a season or across all seasons. Analyses will include regressions of, e.g., diversity indices, density, and biomass as a function of environmental variables and lake characteristics, evaluation of production/biomass models within and among lakes, and meta-analyses of our results.