title: An approach to determining the sampling effort for analyzing biofilm-dwelling ciliate colonization using an artificial substratum in coastal waters.
abstract: A new approach to determining sampling effort for analyzing biofilm-dwelling ciliate colonization was studied in the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China, from May to June 2010. The optimal sample size for evaluating biofilm-dwelling ciliate colonization increased with shortening exposure time, and can be determined according to the probability of recovering those species with a specified cumulative contribution to communities. More slide-replicates were required at a depth of 3 m than at 1 m to recover equivalent proportions of the ciliate communities. For routine colonization dynamics analyses, 10 slide-replicates (175 cm(2)) were sufficient to achieve a 95% probability of recovering those species with a cumulative contribution of >90% to the ciliate communities at a depth of 1 m. These results suggest that 10 slide-replicates immersed at a depth of 1 m may be an optimal sampling strategy for analyzing the colonization dynamics of biofilm-dwelling ciliate communities in marine habitats.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China. henglongxu@126.com
authors.forename: Henglong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Mingzhuang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Khaled A S
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Al-Rasheid
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: Weibo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D018441:Biofilms; D057219:Biofouling; D002681:China; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D020387:Food Chain; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014871:Water Microbiology