Guidance on sampling effort to monitor mesozooplankton communities at Canadian bivalve aquaculture sites using an optical imaging system / by Stephen Finnis [and 14 others]. : Fs97-6/3581E-PDF

"Despite the critical roles zooplankton play in marine food webs, the alterations to their communities by bivalve aquaculture have never been investigated empirically in Canadian waters. Collecting zooplankton data in bivalve aquaculture sites in a way that is interoperable over space and time is the first critical step to building consistent time series to detect changes over time and accurately inform management decisions. As part of the development of a nationally-consistent sampling design within the Aquaculture Monitoring Program, this report evaluates mesozooplankton assemblages observed at nine coastal aquaculture sites, located across four DFO regions, with sampling across months, tide phases, and sampling locations. In most sites, strong spatial effects were observed, while tide effects were generally less important for structuring the mesozooplankton communities. Seasonality was identified as an important monitoring requirement to increase diversity coverage and conduct interannual data comparisons. Conclusions provide direct advice on the minimal sampling effort required to monitor mesozooplankton community changes over time in Canadian bivalve aquaculture embayments. This report represents the first large-scale Canadian coastal study using imaging technology for plankton taxonomic identification; a method with the potential to enable more efficient, cost-effective monitoring and refine our understanding of the state of the Canadian oceans"--Abstract, page v.

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