Metadata:
  Identification_Information:
    Citation:
      Citation_Information:
        Originator: Alabama Coastal Area Board
        Originator: Dr. Thomas S. Hopkins
        Publication_Date: 1981
        Title: Biological Baseline Studies of Mobile Bay: Benthic Fauna 1980-1981
        Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: spreadsheet
    Description:
      Abstract: Beginning in late 1979, the Alabama Coastal Area Board (CAB) funded a series of baseline surveys on the coastal resources of Alabama, from which they could develop a monitoring program to observe any significant changes in the resources over time. 

Eight stations within Mobile Bay, Alabama were sampled monthly from April 1980 to April 1981. Data collected included samples for benthic fauna, pelagic fauna, sediment particle size, total organic carbon, foraminifera, zooplankton, phytoplankton, chlorophyll, turbidity, river flow, and hydrographic parameters. 

The subset of data presented here are for the benthic fauna, which were sampled by 0.1 m^2 Peterson grab. Fauna were enumerated and identified to the lowest taxon possible, and mainly included crustaceans, molluscs, polychaetes, and echinoderms. Data in readily accessible digital form are available from April 1980 to February 1981.
      Purpose: To provide benchmark data to the Alabama Coastal Area Board (CAB) for distribution, abundance, and seasonality of benthic infauna, phytoplankton, zooplankton, foraminifera, epifaunal invertebrates and fishes. CAB became part of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in 1982, and ADEM became part of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) in 2000.
      Supplemental_Information: Sampling began six months after landfall of a Category 3 hurricane (Frederic, September 1979), which caused a massive resuspension of all sediments within Mobile Bay, and also resulted in extra high volume of river discharge for spring 1980. This may have affected the baseline which the CAB studies intended to measure.
    Time_Period_of_Content:
      Time_Period_Information:
        Range_of_Dates/Times:
          Beginning_Date: 19800403
          Ending_Date: 19810226
      Currentness_Reference: ground condition
    Status:
      Progress: Complete
      Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None Planned
    Spatial_Domain:
      Description_of_Geographic_Extent: One station was located at the east end of Mississippi Sound. Seven stations were within Mobile Bay, where five were along a north-south transect from the Mobile-Tensaw River outflows to the bay mouth, and two were in Bon Secour Bay.
      Bounding_Coordinates:
        West_Bounding_Coordinate: -88.17333
        East_Bounding_Coordinate: -87.85167
        North_Bounding_Coordinate: 30.61333
        South_Bounding_Coordinate: 30.23833
    Keywords:
      Theme:
        Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
        Theme_Keyword: biota
        Theme_Keyword: oceans
        Theme_Keyword: inlandWaters
      Theme:
        Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
        Theme_Keyword: benthic infauna
        Theme_Keyword: epifaunal invertebrates
        Theme_Keyword: macroinfauna
        Theme_Keyword: benthic macroinvertebrates
        Theme_Keyword: polychaetes
        Theme_Keyword: molluscs
        Theme_Keyword: crustaceans
        Theme_Keyword: benthic assemblages
        Theme_Keyword: soft-bottom
        Theme_Keyword: Peterson grab
        Theme_Keyword: bottom grab samples
        Theme_Keyword: benchmark survey
        Theme_Keyword: baseline survey
      Place:
        Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
        Place_Keyword: DISL
        Place_Keyword: Dauphin Island Sea Lab
        Place_Keyword: Alabama
        Place_Keyword: Mobile Bay
        Place_Keyword: East Mississippi Sound
    Access_Constraints: Please contact DISL Data Management for access to the data.
    Use_Constraints: Acknowledgment of Dr. Thomas S. Hopkins and the Alabama Coastal Area Board (contracts 80-05 and 81-03) is required in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of these data. Users should be aware that comparison with other data sets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in mapping conventions, data collection, and computer processes over time. The distributor shall not be liable for improper or incorrect use of these data, based on the description of appropriate/inappropriate uses described in the metadata document. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such.
    Point_of_Contact:
      Contact_Information:
        Contact_Organization_Primary:
          Contact_Organization: Dauphin Island Sea Lab Data Management Center
          Contact_Person: Lei Hu
        Contact_Position: data manager
        Contact_Address:
          Address_Type: mailing and physical
          Address: 101 Bienville Boulevard
          City: Dauphin Island
          State_or_Province: AL
          Postal_Code: 36528
        Contact_Voice_Telephone: 251-861-2141
        Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: lhu@disl.org
    Browse_Graphic:
      Browse_Graphic_File_Name: https://mermaid.ncddc.noaa.gov/org/disl/CAB/CAB_data/CAB_data/CAB_infauna/idinfo/browse/cab-map.pdf
      Browse_Graphic_File_Description: A map of Mobile Bay showing the locations of the eight sampling stations. The inset at upper left shows the position of five subsites at each station. Map is from DISL Technical Report 87-002, "Seasonality and structure of soft bottom benthic invertebrate assemblages in Mobile Bay - East Mississippi Sound." T.S. Hopkins. 1988.
      Browse_Graphic_File_Type: PDF
  Data_Quality_Information:
    Logical_Consistency_Report: not applicable
    Completeness_Report: The original product of the CAB studies was a 14-volume series of DISL technical reports, where each volume contained tables of data for one month of sampling. Three copies were printed, one for CAB and two for DISL. None of the locations of any copies are currently known.

Digital versions of the benthic fauna data are still extant for 12 of the 14 sampling trips.
    Positional_Accuracy:
      Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:
        Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report: The location of the sampling stations and subsites were determined each month by Loran C.
    Lineage:
      Methodology:
        Methodology_Type: Field
        Methodology_Identifier:
          Methodology_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
          Methodology_Keyword: Field collection of benthic fauna
        Methodology_Description: Samples were collected with a 0.1 m^2 Peterson grab. At each station, six replicates were collected at each of five subsites, for a total of 30 samples per station per trip. Each replicate was washed with seawater through a 500 micron mesh sieve and fixed in 10% formalin with 1% Rose Bengal stain.
        Methodology_Citation:
          Citation_Information:
            Originator: Hopkins, T.S.
            Publication_Date: 1988
            Title: Seasonality and Structure of Soft Bottom Benthic Invertebrate Assemblages in Mobile Bay - East Mississippi Sound.
            Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: paper
            Series_Information:
              Series_Name: Dauphin Island Sea Lab Technical Report
              Issue_Identification: 87-002
      Methodology:
        Methodology_Type: Lab
        Methodology_Identifier:
          Methodology_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
          Methodology_Keyword: Lab sorting, identification, and enumeration of benthic fauna
        Methodology_Description: Each sample was washed free of formalin and transferred to 95% alcohol. Fauna were first sorted into major groups (polychaetes, molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, other), then identified under dissecting or light microscopes.
        Methodology_Citation:
          Citation_Information:
            Originator: Hopkins, T.S.
            Publication_Date: 1988
            Title: Seasonality and Structure of Soft Bottom Benthic Invertebrate Assemblages in Mobile Bay - East Mississippi Sound.
            Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: paper
            Series_Information:
              Series_Name: Dauphin Island Sea Lab Technical Report
              Issue_Identification: 87-002
      Process_Step:
        Process_Description: All data were originally entered into the MESC Data Management System, an IBM 3774-P2 mainframe with data analysis programs written in SAS (1979), and physically stored on magnetic diskettes and tape (as of 1982). Full information is available in DISL Technical Report 82-002: "The MESC Data Management System: Description and Organization," Eldon C. Blancher, 1982. 

The data were later available in dbase, then more recently (2013) converted to Microsoft Access and are now available as MS Excel spreadsheets.
        Process_Date: Unknown
  Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
    Detailed_Description:
      Entity_Type:
        Entity_Type_Label: CAB Benthic Fauna Data
        Entity_Type_Definition: Microsoft Excel spreadsheets containing identification and enumeration of fauna collected by Peterson grab from eight stations in or near Mobile Bay, Alabama, between April 1980 and February 1981. Two sheets are available: "CABTEMP1" contains data from trips 1-11; "CABTEMP3" is trip 12.
        Entity_Type_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: OBS
        Attribute_Definition: Observation number.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 182
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 12275
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: CODE
        Attribute_Definition: NOAA NODC Taxonomic Code. http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/General/CDR-detdesc/taxonomic-v8.html
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Codeset_Domain:
            Codeset_Name: NODC Taxonomic Code
            Codeset_Source: NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: ID
        Attribute_Definition: An ID number representing one of the five subsites at a station. Each station was a 2000 ft by 2000 ft square. Subsites were at the center and corners of each square. Each subsite was a 500 ft by 500 ft square. Six replicate samples were collected at each subsite, for a total of 30 replicates per station. Samples were numbered from the center subsite first, then northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Enumerated_Domain:
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 25
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: One of five subsites at a station. Probably the center one.
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 26
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: One of five subsites at a station. Probably the northeast one.
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 27
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: One of five subsites at a station. Probably the southeast one.
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 28
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: One of five subsites at a station. Probably the southwest one.
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 29
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: One of five subsites at a station. Probably the northwest one.
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: TAXON
        Attribute_Definition: The first four digits of the NODC Taxonomic Code, indicating broad taxonomic level (class, order, etc.). The purpose of this column was to allow more convenient sorting of the data (all polychaetes together, all crustaceans together, etc.).
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Codeset_Domain:
            Codeset_Name: NODC Taxonomic Code
            Codeset_Source: NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: NAME
        Attribute_Definition: Latin name of the specimen, identified to lowest taxonomic level possible.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Unrepresentable_Domain: A large number of different species of benthic fauna were collected during the study.
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: TRIP
        Attribute_Definition: Trip number.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 1
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 12
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: SASDATE
        Attribute_Definition: Date of sample collection as an integer. The data were originally processed using SAS (Statistical Analysis System software, SAS Institute). Dates are always more convenient to work with in integer form when using any kind of analysis software.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 7398
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 7727
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: DATE
        Attribute_Definition: Date of sample collection.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 03APR1980
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 26FEB1981
            Attribute_Units_of_Measure: DDmonYYYY
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: STATION
        Attribute_Definition: Location where samples were collected.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Enumerated_Domain:
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 1
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 1 location: 30 15.8'N, 88 10.4'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 2
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 2 location: 30 14.3'N, 88 01.1'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 3
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 3 location: 30 17.6'N, 87 55.9'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 4
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 4 location: 30 18.3'N, 87 51.1'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 5
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 5 location: 30 21.0'N, 87 59.7'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 6
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 6 location: 30 26.4'N, 87 59.1'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 7
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 7 location: 30 32.5'N, 87 59.0'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
            Enumerated_Domain_Value: 8
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Station 8 location: 30 36.8'N, 87 58.5'W
            Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: CAB
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: SUMREP
        Attribute_Definition: Total number of specimens collected from all replicate samples at a given subsite (ID).
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 1
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 7855
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: REP1
        Attribute_Definition: Number of specimens collected from sampling replicate 1.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 1495
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: REP2
        Attribute_Definition: Number of specimens collected from sampling replicate 2.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 2098
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: REP3
        Attribute_Definition: Number of specimens collected from sampling replicate 3.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 2058
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: REP4
        Attribute_Definition: Number of specimens collected from sampling replicate 4.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 2096
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: REP5
        Attribute_Definition: Number of specimens collected from sampling replicate 5.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 1270
      Attribute:
        Attribute_Label: REP6
        Attribute_Definition: Number of specimens collected from sampling replicate 6.
        Attribute_Definition_Source: DISL Data Management
        Attribute_Domain_Values:
          Range_Domain:
            Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
            Range_Domain_Maximum: 1834
  Metadata_Reference_Information:
    Metadata_Date: 20130723
    Metadata_Contact:
      Contact_Information:
        Contact_Organization_Primary:
          Contact_Organization: Dauphin Island Sea Lab
        Contact_Position: Data Management Specialist
        Contact_Address:
          Address_Type: mailing and physical
          Address: 101 Bienville Blvd.
          City: Dauphin Island
          State_or_Province: Al
          Postal_Code: 36528
          Country: USA
        Contact_Voice_Telephone: 251-861-2141
        Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: metadata@disl.org
        Hours_of_Service: 8-5:00 CST
        Contact_Instructions: Please email the metadata specialist for further information.
    Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
    Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999
