Efficacy of Sampling Design to Study Macrofaunal Assemblage on Exposed Sandy Beaches
Rathod RH*, Barve SK, Shridhankar MM, Indulkar ST, Yewale VG,
Lokhande PC and Waghmare SS
Department of Fisheries Extension, Economic and Statistics, College of Fishery Science,
Nagpur, India
*Corresponding Author: Rathod RH, Department of Fisheries Extension,
Economic and Statistics, College of Fishery Science, Nagpur, India.
Received:
March 21, 2022; Published: April 08, 2022
Abstract
Exposed sandy beaches are characterized by ecologically complex environments, which exhibit considerable spatial and temporal
habitat heterogeneity. Further, exposed sandy beaches undergo diurnal variations such as desiccation during low tide and submergence
during high tide. The amount of submergence and exposure varies as per the tidal amplitude and intensity due to lunar cycle.
Considering spatial and temporal heterogeneity of macrofauna and variations in sampling designs used in hitherto studies, an attempt
was made to find out most suitable sampling design with regard to quadrat size and interval between quadrat needed to obtain
the most précised estimate of macrofaunal assemblage on exposed sandy beaches must be sampled at least for one complete year
after taking appropriate number of transects on the beach with quadrat size of 0.25 sq. m, spaced 12 m apart from each other over a
complete transect length to study macrofauna assemblage.
Keywords: Sampling Design; Macrofauna; Richness; Abundance
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