Benthic copepod records in the littoral area of Lake Maggiore

Copepods (Crustacea: Copepoda) are widespread in aquatic ecosystems worldwide and represent an important component of the meiobenthic metazoan assemblages of lake littorals. Yet, little is currently known about the diversity patterns of benthic copepods of lentic habitats. We gathered information on the benthic copepod assemblages of the littoral zone of Lake Maggiore as part of the Interreg Italy-Switzerland 2014-2020 Parchi Verbano Ticino Project (ID: 481668), funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Lake Maggiore is a large and deep temperate lake in Northern-western Italy that is subject to substantial changes in water levels due to human activities. We compiled a dataset listing 234 occurrence records of benthic copepod species recorded in three littoral sampling stations situated in three protected areas, of which two are part of the Natura 2000 network in Italy and one is part of the Emerald Network in Switzerland. We collected the specimens during the summer-autumn period in 2019-2021. We identified copepods down to the species level. We created a dataset with individual georeferenced occurrence records for each of these species, organized in a standardized Darwin Core Archive format. We made available a total of 13 distinct taxonomic entities and 234 unique georeferenced occurrence records related to the benthic copepod assemblage of the littoral zone of Lake Maggiore. This dataset is relevant in that it concerns the benthic copepods of the littoral zones of a large lake whose water levels are regulated for human uses. The dataset has the potential to assist the authorities in charge of managing Lake Maggiore’s water levels in addressing the ecological risk connected with water management and developing shared implementation strategies for human activities that are sustainable on the lake.