SAMPLES ARE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE. Please contact the NEON Biorepository for information about when these samples will become available. Unsorted bulk zooplankton sample for archive (NEON sample class: zoo_fieldData_in.sampleID.dna). Zooplankton are sampled at NEON lake sites three times per year at each site, roughly spring (bout 1), summer (bout 2), and autumn (bout 3). Samples are collected in the water column of lakes using the most appropriate sampler (vertical tow net or Schindler trap) for the depth of water. During each sampling bout, three samples are collected for morphological taxonomy and three samples for DNA. The DNA samples from bout 2 (summer) are sent to an external laboratory for metabarcoding. The unsorted bulk DNA samples from bout 1 (spring) and bout 3 (autumn) are archived for future research. Unsorted bulk zooplankton samples are preserved in 30-40% ethanol (prior to 2020) or 95% ethanol (2020 and beyond) and archived in a temperature (17-18°C) and humidity controlled environment. See AOS Protocol and Procedure: Zooplankton Sampling in Lakes and NEON Aquatic Sampling Strategy (https://data.neonscience.org/documents) for more information about this sample class. NEON datasets (https://data.neonscience.org/home) associated with this sample class include Zooplankton Collection.
