Sampling frequency of ciliated protozoan microfauna for seasonal distribution research in marine ecosystems.
Sampling frequency is important to obtain sufficient information for temporal research of microfauna. To determine an optimal strategy for exploring the seasonal variation in ciliated protozoa, a dataset from the Yellow Sea, northern China was studied. Samples were collected with 24 (biweekly), 12 (monthly), 8 (bimonthly per season) and 4 (seasonally) sampling events. Compared to the 24 samplings (100%), the 12-, 8- and 4-samplings recovered 94%, 94%, and 78% of the total species, respectively. To reveal the seasonal distribution, the 8-sampling regime may result in >75% information of the seasonal variance, while the traditional 4-sampling may only explain <65% of the total variance. With the increase of the sampling frequency, the biotic data showed stronger correlations with seasonal variables (e.g., temperature, salinity) in combination with nutrients. It is suggested that the 8-sampling events per year may be an optimal sampling strategy for ciliated protozoan seasonal research in marine ecosystems.
Department of Marine Ecology, College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: henglongxu@126.com.
Henglong
H
Xu
Department of Marine Ecology, College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
Jiang
J
Yong
Department of Marine Ecology, College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
Guangjian
G
Xu
D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D058448:Biota; D002681:China; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000502:physiology*; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D054712:Salinity; D012621:Seasons; D013696:Temperature
Ciliated protozoa; Community research; Marine ecosystem; Sampling frequency; Seasonal variation