Data on taxa composition of freshwater zooplankton and meiobenthos across Arctic regions of Russia

Abstract

We present the presence/absence species list (Table 1) of rotifer, cladoceran, and copepod (Calanoida, Harpacticoida, and Cyclopoida) fauna from seven Arctic regions of Russia (the Kola Peninsula, the Pechora River Delta, the Bolshezemelskaya tundra, the Polar Ural, the Putorana Plateau, the Lena River Delta, and the Indigirka River Basin) based on our own and literature data. Our own records were obtained by analyzing samples of zooplankton, meiobenthos, and two cores of bottom sediments (from the Kola Peninsula and the Bolshezemelskaya tundra lakes) that we collected once in July or August in 1992, 1995–2017. To supplement the list, we used relevant literature with periods of research from the 1960s to the 2010s. The list is almost identical to “Dataset 2: Zooplankton and Meiofauna across Arctic Regions of Russia”, which was analyzed but not published in [1]. The detailed analysis of this list revealed the specific composition of the aquatic fauna associated with the climatic and geographical factors [1]. The data provide information on the current state of biodiversity and species richness in Arctic fresh waters and can serve as the basis for monitoring these environments and predicting how they are likely to change in the future.