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Assessing differences in macrofaunal assemblages as a factor of sieve mesh size, distance between samples, and time of sampling

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Abstract

With increasing cascading effects of climate change on the marine environment, as well as pollution and anthropogenic utilization of the seafloor, there is increasing interest in tracking changes to benthic communities. Macrofaunal surveys are traditionally conducted as part of pre-incident environmental assessment studies and post-incident monitoring studies when there is a potential impact to the seafloor. These surveys usually characterize the structure and/or spatiotemporal distribution of macrofaunal assemblages collected with sediment cores; however, many different sampling protocols have been used. An assessment of the comparability of past and current survey methods was in need to facilitate future surveys and comparisons. This was the aim of the present study, conducted off the Oregon coast in waters 25–35 m deep. Our results show that the use of a sieve with a 1.0-mm mesh size gives results for community structure comparable to results obtained from a 0.5-mm mesh size, which allows reliable comparisons of recent and past spatiotemporal surveys of macroinfauna. In addition to our primary objective of comparing methods, we also found interacting effects of seasons and depths of collection. Seasonal differences (summer and fall) were seen in infaunal assemblages in the wave-induced sediment motion zone but not deeper. Thus, studies where wave-induced sediment motion can structure the benthic communities, especially during the winter months, should consider this effect when making temporal comparisons. In addition, some macrofauna taxa-like polychaetes and amphipods show high interannual variabilities, so spatiotemporal studies should make sure to cover several years before drawing any conclusions.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center. The authors acknowledge Captain Mike Kriz and Kody Robinson of the R/V Elakha (Oregon State University) for the sampling in 2012, and Jeffery Cordell (University of Washington) and Kathy Welch (AquaMarine Environmental Services) for the taxonomic assistance with, respectively, the amphipod and polychaete specimens. Chip Hogue and Howard Jones graciously provided the 1978 data for this study and comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Lenaïg G. Hemery & Sarah K. Henkel

  2. College of Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Kristin K. Politano

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  1. Lenaïg G. Hemery
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Correspondence to Lenaïg G. Hemery.

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List of macrofaunal organisms and total of individuals sampled during each of the three surveys: MB in July, August and October 1978, NETS in August and October 2012, and HB and MB in July, August and October 2012. (DOCX 30 kb).

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Hemery, L.G., Politano, K.K. & Henkel, S.K. Assessing differences in macrofaunal assemblages as a factor of sieve mesh size, distance between samples, and time of sampling. Environ Monit Assess 189, 413 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6127-8

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