TUNU 2015 & 2017 Epibenthos and trait data of Northeast Greenland.

This data forms part of the TUNU Programme at UiT–The Arctic University of Norway and is the first contribution focused on benthic invertebrates in this Programme. The TUNU-Programme received permits from the Government of Greenland, Ministry of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture–document ID: C-17-129 and C-15-17. The data consists of epibenthic megafaunal invertebrates that were sampled from R/V Helmer Hanssen (UiT–The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø), as part of the ongoing international TUNU-Programme (TUNU means East Greenland in Greenlandic) during the TUNU-VI Expedition in August 2015 and the TUNU-VII Expedition in September 2017. The dataset covers areas of the Northeast Greenland coastal and shelf areas such as Bessel Fjord, Dove Bugt, Belgica Bank and other shelf locations, and further east along the shelf break and upper continental slope. A total of 18 locations were sampled with a total of 33 trawl samples collected over a depth range covering from 65 to 1011 m.

A full description of sampling methods can be found here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-020-02733-z

The data sets include; epibenthic abundance (years 2015 & 2017) and biomass (2017). Abundance estimates were standardized to number of individuals (ind.) 1000 m⁻²  and biomass estimates were standardised to gram wet weight (g ww) 1000 m⁻². Trait information was collected from the Arctic Trait Database (https://www.univie.ac.at/ arctic traits/, Accessed: April 2023) and the fuzzy coding approach applied. If traits were not available from the Arctic Trait Database at the lowest taxonomic rank, the literature was reviewed to retain the highest taxonomic resolution possible, or the trait was given a score of zero in order not to bias results of trait-analyses. Environmental data is also included for all stations (both years) as one file and the variables include latittude, longitude, bottom water temperature (C), bottom salinity (PSU), oxygen concentration (ml L⁻¹), and turbidity (FTU).