The variables in biota_data.csv describe the contaminant and biological effect data in biota used in the 2018 assessment of the UK's Clean Seas Environment Monitoring Programme. The column headers are:

seriesID
Description: timeseries identifier
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 5580
Note: identifies the data (typically a station / contaminant / species combination) that were grouped together into a timeseries and modelled to assess status and trends

station
Description: station identifier
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 276
Note: monitoring station – links to station information in biota_stations.csv

species
Description: species
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 12
Note:
Cerastoderma edule: AphiaID = 138998
Crassostrea gigas: AphiaID = 140656
Gadus morhua: AphiaID = 126436
Limanda limanda: AphiaID = 127139
Merlangius merlangus: AphiaID = 126438
Mytilus edulis: AphiaID = 140480
Nucella lapillus: AphiaID = 140403
Platichthys flesus: AphiaID = 127141
Pleuronectes platessa: AphiaID = 127143
Scomber scombrus: AphiaID = 127023
Spisula solidissima: AphiaID = 156996
Venerupis corrugata: AphiaID = 181364

sex
Description: sex
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: F, I, M, X
Note: see ICES reference codes for SEXCO

year
Description: monitoring year
Unit:
Type: discrete
Range: 1999, 2017
Note: for some data suppliers, monitoring is in winter and e.g. sampling in December 2016 and January 2017 would be regarded as having come from the same monitoring year

date
Description: sampling date
Unit:
Type: discrete
Range: 1999-01-01, 2017-10-10
Note:

sampleID
Description: sample identifier
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 22162
Note: data from different matrices (e.g. LI and MU) in the same fish have different sampleIDs

matrix
Description: sample matrix
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: BI, BL, HML, LI, LIS9, MU, SB, WO
Note: see ICES reference codes for MATRX

group
Description: contaminant group
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: BDE, bioeffect, CB, dioxin, imposex, metal, organoMetal, PAH.parent, pesticide
Note:
BDE = polybrominated diphenyl ethers
bioeffect = biological effects
CB = polychlorinated biphenyls
organoMetal = tributyltin and derivatives
PAH.parent = parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

determinand
Description: contaminant
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 50
Note: see ICES reference codes for PARAM; data submitted as CHRTR and VDSI have been relabelled as CHR and VDS respectively

metoa
Description: method of chemical analysis
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: 25
Note: see ICES reference codes for METOA

concentration
Description: concentration of contaminant or equivalent for biological effects
Unit: ug/kg ww (contaminants), ug/ml (PYR1OHEQ), pmol/min/mg protein (EROD), st (VDS)
Type: continuous
Range: 0, 438946
Note: all contaminant concentrations are expressed on a wet weight basis

qflag
Description: less-than qualifier for the concentration measurement
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: "", "<"
Note:
“<” indicates a value below the limit of detection
"” indicates a value above the limit of detection or where there is no limit of detection (e.g. VDS measurements)

uncertainty
Description: uncertainty in the concentration measurement
Unit: as for concentration
Type: continuous
Range: 0.0000025, 35276
Note: analytical uncertainty expressed as the standard deviation; not applicable to some biological effects measurements

LNMEA
Description: mean length
Unit: cm
Type: continuous
Range: 0.1, 103
Note: mean length of monitoring organism in pool; there are unit errors in these data, so the data should be used with caution

DRYWT
Description: dry weight of the sample
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 2.46, 91.6
Note: all values are above the limit of detection

DRYWT.uncertainty
Description: uncertainty in the dry weight measurement
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 0.028, 12.4
Note: analytical uncertainty expressed as the standard deviation

LIPIDWT
Description: lipid weight of the sample
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 0.09, 81.4
Note:

LIPIDWT.qflag
Description: less-than qualifier for the lipid weight measurement
Unit:
Type: categorical
Levels: "", "<"
Note: see qflag

LIPIDWT.uncertainty
Description: uncertainty in the lipid weight measurement
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 0.019, 10.1
Note: analytical uncertainty expressed as the standard deviation

noinp
Description: number of individuals pooled in the sample
Unit: nr
Type: discrete
Range: 1, 500
Note:

FEMALEPOP
Description: % of the sample that are females
Unit: %
Type: continuous
Range: 17, 100
Note: used to model imposex data when submitted as a pooled sample

CMTQCNR
Description: Comet assay cells screened
Unit: nr
Type: discrete
Range: 13, 168
Note: used to model Comet assay (%DNATAIL) data

MNCQCNR
Description: Micronucleus assay cells screened
Unit: nr
Type: discrete
Range: 1000, 5000
Note: used to model Micronucleus assay (MNC) data