Sample size in the monitoring of benthic macrofauna in the profundal of lakes: evaluation of the precision of estimates

Veijola, Heikki; Meril�inen, Jarmo J.; Marttila, Virpi

doi:10.1007/bf00031843

Cited by 22 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Species data from fairly heterogeneous sources were merged, and the necessary taxonomic harmonization of the data might have obscured some compositional patterns. Additionally, the number of replicate samples was limited, which may significantly increase the amount of unexplained community variation (see discussion above) and reduce the precision of the estimated community metrics (Veijola et al 1996). Despite these problems, fairly strong relationships between macroinvertebrate community structure and insensitive environmental variables, lake morphometric ones in particular, were evident.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate communities in boreal lakes is related to lake morphometry: implications for bioassessment

Jyväsjärvi

Tolonen

Hämäläinen

2009

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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Modern biological assessment of aquatic systems is often based on the reference condition approach, which requires characterization of biota in undisturbed conditions. For this approach, it is essential to recognize the origins and degree of natural variation in communities. We used data from 55 minimally disturbed Finnish lake basins to investigate the natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate community composition in relation to environmental factors. Partial canonical correspondence analysis showed that most (68% combined, 39% uniquely) of the total explained compositional variation (29%) was correlated with environmental variables insensitive to human activities, especially lake morphometry. In contrast, the unique contributions of geographical location and variables influenced by human activities (dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus) were substantially smaller (5.5% and 22%, respectively). All of the explained variation (38%-64%) of three widely used community metrics was also correlated with human-insensitive environmental factors. The results suggest that variation in undisturbed profundal invertebrate communities of reference sites is strongly dependent on variables insensitive to human activities and especially on those related to lake morphometry, suggesting that reference communities for bioassessment of impacted lakes should be rather predictable from these variables.Résumé : L'évaluation biologique moderne des systèmes aquatiques se fonde souvent sur une méthodologie basée sur les conditions témoins, ce qui exige la caractérisation des organismes vivants dans des conditions non perturbées. Dans cette méthode, il est essentiel de connaître l'origine et l'étendue de la variation naturelle des communautés. Nous utilisons des données provenant de 55 bassins lacustres de Finlande avec des perturbations minimales pour étudier la variation naturelle de la composition des communautés de macroinvertébrés de la zone profonde en fonction des facteurs de l'environnement. Une analyse canonique partielle des correspondances montre que la majeure partie (68 % en combinaison, 39 % entière-ment) de la variation totale de la composition (29 %) est en corrélation avec des variables du milieu qui ne sont pas affectées par les activités humaines, en particulier les caractéristiques morphométriques des lacs. En revanche, les contributions particulières de la situation géographique et des variables affectées par les activités humaines (oxygène dissous et phosphore total) sont substantiellement moins importantes (respectivement 5,5 % et 22 %). Toute la variation expliquée (38 % à 64 %) de trois métriques de communauté d'utilisation courante est aussi reliée aux facteurs du milieu non affectés par les humains. Ces résultats indiquent que la variation dans les communautés profondes non perturbées d'invertébrés des sites témoins est fortement dépendante de variables insensibles aux activités humaines et particulièrement de celles qui sont reliées à la morphologie lacustre, ce qui laisse croire que les communautés témo...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate communities in boreal lakes is related to lake morphometry: implications for bioassessment

Jyväsjärvi

Tolonen

Hämäläinen

2009

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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“…This adequate sample size was consistent across habitats and was comparable with that for littoral macroinvertebrate communities associated with submerged macrophytes (Cheruvelil et al, 2000). Our adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates was two times higher than that of macroinvertebrates on profundal habitats (Veijola et al, 1996) suggesting that the sample size depends on habitat complexity as well as the depth zone of a Fig. 2 Species-area curves depicting the relationship between mean cumulative percentage species richness (±95% CI, N = 19) and sampled area across all habitats (A) and for macroinvertebrate communities classified into incidence classes (B).…”

Section: Adequate Sample Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Veijola et al (1996) demonstrated that a sample size of 0.29 m 2 is sufficient for obtaining a representative sample of the profundal macroinvertebrate community associated with organic sediments. Cheruvelil et al (2000) showed that areas of 0.41-0.63 m 2 are sufficient to representatively sample littoral macroinvertebrates associated with submerged macrophytes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How much is enough? Adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates in lowland lakes

Schreiber

Brauns

2010

Hydrobiologia

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Littoral macroinvertebrates are increasingly used for assessing the ecological status of lakes according to the EU Water Framework Directive. This requires harmonised sampling methods, but information on the appropriate spatial scale of the sampling as well as on the adequate sample sizes are mostly lacking. In this study, we compared the spatial variability of littoral (\1.2 m water depth) macroinvertebrate community composition within habitats and within sites to test whether habitat-specific sampling can reduce their spatial variability. Furthermore, we determined the sample size necessary to obtain maximum species richness for a given habitat type. Spatial variability of macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly lower within habitats than within sampling sites, except for communities of coarse woody debris. Species-area curves revealed that a sample size of 1 m 2 per habitat was not sufficient to obtain the maximum species richness due to the dominance of rare species, which suggests that compilation of taxon inventories may require more exhaustive sampling with sampling sizes substantially larger than 1 m 2 . Separate analysis for species assigned to incidence classes showed that a mean area of 0.63 m 2 per habitat is sufficient to record all species with frequent and medium incidences, and 76% of the rare species. We conclude that habitat-specific sampling is an effective way to reduce the inherent spatial variability of littoral macroinvertebrate communities and that a sample size of 0.63 m 2 per habitat is sufficient to represent their dominant and subdominant elements. The application of this adequate sample size to other lake types than large oligotrophic lakes has to be exercised with caution, in particular if community composition and richness patterns differ. However, our results are based on data from lakes that represent the typical lake type found throughout the Central Baltic ecoregion ensuring its wider applicability in this ecoregion.

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“…-Veijola et al (1996) investigated Lake Paasivesi, Lake Puruvesi, and Lake Haukivesi in Finland. -Veijola et al (1996) investigated Lake Paasivesi, Lake Puruvesi, and Lake Haukivesi in Finland.…”

Section: Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Ecological Communities: The Problem of Sample Representativeness

Cao

Williams

Larsen

2002

Ecological Monographs

105

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Obtaining an adequate, representative sample of ecological communities to make taxon richness (TR) or compositional comparisons among sites is a continuing challenge. Although randomization in the collection of sample units is often used to assure that sampling is representative, randomization does not convey the concept of how well samples represent the community or site from which they are drawn. In ecological surveys, how well a sample represents a community or site literally means the similarity in taxon composition and relative abundance between a sample and the community from which it is drawn. Using both field and simulated data, we show that the proportion of the total taxon richness at a site (%TTR) achieved with a fixed sample size varies across sites, which in turn causes changes in site-to-site differences in observed TR with sample size. This means that equal-sized samples may differentially represent the communities from which they are drawn. However, the similarity of a sample to the community from which it is drawn cannot be measured directly because the taxon composition and relative abundance of the community is usually unknown. We propose to estimate it by measuring the average similarity among replicate samples randomly drawn from a community, i.e., autosimilarity, which is measured with Jaccard Coefficient in this study. Using the same data sets, we found that:(1) samples of equal size from different sites or communities achieved different levels of autosimilarity, with lower levels achieved in taxon richer sites, indicating variation in how well samples of equal size represent their respective communities; (2) %TTR was positively and almost linearly correlated with autosimilarity, indicating that autosimilarity might be a good predictor of TTR; and (3) when samples were compared at the same level of autosimilarity, similar %TTRs across different sites were achieved (i.e., the relative differences in taxon richness among sites became independent of sample size). We conclude that standardization on autosimilarity, rather than on sample size, can improve the accuracy of taxon richness comparisons.

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Sample size in the monitoring of benthic macrofauna in the profundal of lakes: evaluation of the precision of estimates

Cited by 22 publications

References 29 publications

Natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate communities in boreal lakes is related to lake morphometry: implications for bioassessment

Natural variation of profundal macroinvertebrate communities in boreal lakes is related to lake morphometry: implications for bioassessment

How much is enough? Adequate sample size for littoral macroinvertebrates in lowland lakes

Comparison of Ecological Communities: The Problem of Sample Representativeness

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