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Sampling variance and the design of quantitative surveys of the marine benthos

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Abstract

A prerequisite to precise estimates of the abundance of organisms is prior knowledge of the sampling variability. A number of empirical algorithms to predict the sampling variance (s 2) of freshwater benthic and epiphytic organisms have appeared in the literature. Based on an analysis of published data, I show that the sample variance of marine benthos increases with the sample mean (m) and can be predicted with a high degree of precision from the equation: s 2=1.641 m 1.219 (r 2=0.86, n=3015). The variability among site-specific s 2:m relationships is related to the number of replicate samples in the survey and the level of replication. This confounds the interpretation of deviations from the general relationship. The exponent of the general s 2:m relationship calculated for the marine benthos (1.219) is much lower than that commonly found in freshwater benthic systems (∼1.5). This may indicate that the marine benthos is generally less aggregated than the freshwater benthos. The general s 2:m equation is used to predict the requisite number of replicate samples as a function of precision and density.

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Author notes

  1. A. F. Vézina

    Present address: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Research Company, Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, K0J 1J0, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

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  1. Biology Department, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Dr. Penfield, H3A 1B1, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    A. F. Vézina

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  1. A. F. Vézina
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Communicated by R. W. Doyle, Halifax

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Vézina, A.F. Sampling variance and the design of quantitative surveys of the marine benthos. Mar. Biol. 97, 151–155 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391255

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