A dataset and template for assessing the ecological status of marine sediments and waters, based on microbial taxa.

Abstract

Microbes have often been overlooked as indicators of how the ecological status is affected by human pressures. Recently, the biotic index microgAMBI was proposed to assess the status of marine sediments and waters, and it has been tested under different pressures and biogeographical areas. This index is based on the assignation of microbial taxa to one of two ecological groups: sensitive or tolerant to pollution or disturbance. The resulting taxa list has grown significantly since its first publication. Given the growing use of microgAMBI, it is crucial to make it more FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Hence, this work provides the calculation template, the updated taxa list (1,974 taxa currently), and instructions on how to access and use them for assessing marine microbial ecological status.