You are here:
A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE EMAP-W BENTHIC MACROFAUNAL SAMPLE UNIT
Citation:
Ferraro, S P., F A. Cole, AND A R. Olsen. A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE EMAP-W BENTHIC MACROFAUNAL SAMPLE UNIT. Presented at 27th Annual Pacific Estuarine Research Society meeting, Port Townsend, WA, May 17-18, 2004.
Description:
The standard EPA West Coast Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP-W) benthic macrofaunal sampling protocol is to collect 30-50 random benthic samples per reporting unit (e.g., estuary, region) using a 0.1 m2 grab and to sort out macrofauna using a 1.0 mm mesh screen. We conducted an EMAP-W study in Tillamook Bay, OR, in which benthic macrofaunal samples were collected using both the standard (0.1 m2 ? 7 cm deep) and a smaller (0.01 m2 ? 5 cm deep) sample unit. After performing probability integral transformations on the data, there were no significant differences between the number of species, abundance, and Shannon-Wiener diversity index cumulative distribution functions for the standard and the smaller sample unit data. Benthic macrofaunal samples collected using the smaller sample unit were about ten times less costly to process yet just as effective for characterizing benthic macrofaunal conditions in Tillamook Bay as those collected using the standard sample unit. If the smaller sample unit used in this study is confirmed to be generally as effective in characterizing benthic conditions as the current EMAP-W sample unit, it's adoption as a new standard would greatly increase the cost effectiveness of future EMAP-W studies.