Matrix of functional traits of species sampled in the annual survey of the estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence

This dataset contains functional traits for fish and invertebrate taxa sampled in the annual ecosystem bottom trawl survey in the Estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The purpose of this functional trait matrix is to contribute to the development and monitoring of community indicators to support the implementation of ecosystem-based management. In a context of climate change, this information will better inform and facilitate sustainable management processes and the adaptation of human activities that directly depend on the state of marine species and communities.

The functional trait matrix was established based on a literature review, the knowledge of experts who have worked for over twenty years to develop knowledge on marine species in the St. Lawrence, and empirical data from the ecosystem bottom trawl survey conducted by DFO Quebec Region in the Estuary and Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NGSL) since 1990. It includes a total of 103 fish taxa and 178 invertebrate taxa captured in the survey. Each trait is compiled for all or a subset of the selected taxa. The trait matrix includes a grouping of taxa into trophic guilds based on fuzzy coding, a categorization of taxa based on their mobility, a qualitative assessment of the presence of traits related to habitat provision/physical structures and bioturbation, as well as a review of available knowledge on the longevity and size at maturity of selected taxa, i.e. species of commercial value. The matrix also includes an empirical assessment of the average occurrence, relative density, maximum size and condition of taxa sampled representatively over the last ten years (2014 to 2023). The files were created for an Excel format but are distributed in .txt format to ensure consistency.

For details on taxa selection, literature review and trait calculation from empirical data, see the following report:

Isabel, L., Scallon-Chouinard, P.-M., Roux, M.-J. et Nozères, N. 2024. Matrice des traits fonctionnels des taxons échantillonnés dans le relevé annuel de l'estuaire et le nord du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Rapp. stat. can. sci. halieut. aquat. 1421 : vii + 65 p.

Datasets available for download

• Data dictionary for functional matrixCSV
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• Functional traits matrixZIP
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• Biological traits
• Estuaries
• Fish
• Gulf of St. Lawrence
• Invertebrates
• Nature and Environment
• Science and Technology
• St. Lawrence Estuary
• functional traits

Additional Info

• Maturity Level 1 (54%)
• Maturity Level 2 (23%)
• Maturity Level 3 (0%)
• Maturity Level 4 (0%)
• Maturity Level 5 (0%)
• Maturity Level 6 (0%)

Field	Value
Last Updated	October 20, 2025, 02:39 (UTC)
Created	October 20, 2025, 02:39 (UTC)
Domain / Topic Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.	Biota, Environment
Title Title for the Dataset.	Matrix of functional traits of species sampled in the annual survey of the estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
Description A description of the dataset.	This dataset contains functional traits for fish and invertebrate taxa sampled in the annual ecosystem bottom trawl survey in the Estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The purpose of this functional trait matrix is to contribute to the development and monitoring of community indicators to support the implementation of ecosystem-based management. In a context of climate change, this information will better inform and facilitate sustainable management processes and the adaptation of human activities that directly depend on the state of marine species and communities. The functional trait matrix was established based on a literature review, the knowledge of experts who have worked for over twenty years to develop knowledge on marine species in the St. Lawrence, and empirical data from the ecosystem bottom trawl survey conducted by DFO Quebec Region in the Estuary and Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NGSL) since 1990. It includes a total of 103 fish taxa and 178 invertebrate taxa captured in the survey. Each trait is compiled for all or a subset of the selected taxa. The trait matrix includes a grouping of taxa into trophic guilds based on fuzzy coding, a categorization of taxa based on their mobility, a qualitative assessment of the presence of traits related to habitat provision/physical structures and bioturbation, as well as a review of available knowledge on the longevity and size at maturity of selected taxa, i.e. species of commercial value. The matrix also includes an empirical assessment of the average occurrence, relative density, maximum size and condition of taxa sampled representatively over the last ten years (2014 to 2023). The files were created for an Excel format but are distributed in .txt format to ensure consistency. For details on taxa selection, literature review and trait calculation from empirical data, see the following report: Isabel, L., Scallon-Chouinard, P.-M., Roux, M.-J. et Nozères, N. 2024. Matrice des traits fonctionnels des taxons échantillonnés dans le relevé annuel de l'estuaire et le nord du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Rapp. stat. can. sci. halieut. aquat. 1421 : vii + 65 p.
Tags / Keywords Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.	Biological traits Estuaries Fish Gulf of St. Lawrence Invertebrates Nature and Environment Science and Technology St. Lawrence Estuary functional traits
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc) File format of the dataset.
Dataset Size Dataset size in megabytes.
Metadata Identifier Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry
Published Date Published date of the dataset.	2025-02-01
Time Period Data Span (start date) Start date of the data in the dataset.
Time Period Data Span (end date) End date of time data in the dataset.
GeoSpatial Area Data Span A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.

Field	Value
Access category Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).
License License used to access the dataset.	Open Government Licence - Canada
Limits on use Limits on use of data.
Location Location of the dataset.	https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/83af5394-ed06-4faa-b9d4-bc94712e4442
Data Service Data service for accessing a dataset.
Owner Owner of the dataset.	Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Contact Point Who to contact regarding access?
Contact Point Email The email to contact regarding access?
Publisher Publisher of the dataset.
Publisher Email Email of the publisher.
Author Author of the dataset.
Author Email Email of the author.
Accessed At Date the data and metadata was accessed.

Field	Value
Identifier Unique identifier for the dataset.
Language Language(s) of the dataset
Link to dataset description A URL to an external document describing the dataset.
Persistent Identifier Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
Globally Unique Identifier Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
Contains data about individuals Does the data hold data about individuals?
Contains data about identifiable individuals Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
Contains Indigenous Data Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
Portal Type Platform type of the source portal.

Field	Value
Version Version of the datatset	None
Source Source of the dataset.	None
Version notes Version notes about the dataset.
Is version of another dataset Link to dataset that it is a version of.
Other versions Link to datasets that are versions of it.
Provenance Text Provenance Text of the data.
Provenance URL Provenance URL of the data.
Temporal resolution Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
GeoSpatial resolution in meters Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
GeoSpatial resolution (in regions) Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.

Field	Value
Indigenous Community Permission Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
Community Permission Community permission (who gave permission).
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about Indigenous communities from which data is derived.

Field	Value
Number of data rows If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
Number of data columns If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
Number of data cells If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
Number of data relations If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
Number of entities If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
Number of data properties If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
Data quality Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
Metric for data quality A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.

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