Metadata for NEC Invert Data Set


The NEC invertebrate data is complied in Microsoft Excel and includes the following information in order from left to right in the spreadsheet:

Date that each sample was taken
The site each sample was taken at and what replicate it was ( when more than one sample was taken at a station)
Station and corrected site which are un-used
Taxa or the full scientific name of the individual organism (lowest taxonomic classification possible)
"Oligo letter" and "seta" columns are for the identification of oligochaetes by number and type of seta. Oligochaetes showing the same type and number of seta per bundle were given a letter and later  identified to species by a third party.
Length and width columns are measurements taken using the ocular micrometers housed in the scopes.  Length is considered from the head or prostomium to the posterior of the organism. Things such as antennae and anal cirri would not be included in the length. Width is a measurement across the head or prostomium of the organism when present. This measurement was also taken on bivalves to record the widest part of their shell.
The corrected length/width column is reserved for the conversion from micrometers (measured with ocular micrometers) into millimeters
The number column represents how many organisms of a particular size, species, or both were found at each station. 
The "no/m2" or number per meter squared column is the corrected number of  organisms of a given size class, that are in a one meter  square area of habitat. This number is derived by multiplying the number from the "number" column by the number of quadrates taken from the original sample and then dividing by the area sampled.   Example:  If you took a grab sample, split it into four parts and only possessed one of the four sub-samples then you would have to multiply your results by four to see the number for your entire sample. 
The sum and proportion columns are unused (spread sheet design is a template)
The "notes" column contains useful information on given samples or organisms such as problems with measurements or identification or notes about possible mislabeling of samples, etc.
20 individuals were measured for each species and the remaining were counted for biomass purposes. This accounts for the "no measure" seen in the notes column.
The following are translations of the site codes;  BB is Bigelow Bight,  CN is Cape Neddick,  JL is Jeffery's Ledge,  KB and KR are Kennebunk River,  PR is Piscataqua River,  PRE is Piscataqua River Estuary, SR and SRE are the Saco River and its estuary respectively, WH and WR are the Webhanet River, and WI is Wood Island located near the mouth of the Saco River.  (The Arun Dump tab was not used seeing how no sampling took place at the Arundel dump site.