Abstract
Community-based monitoring programs (CBMPs) are a cost-effective option to collect the long-term data required to effectively monitor estuaries. Data quality concerns have caused some CBMP datasets, which could fill knowledge gaps for aquatic ecosystems, to go unused. The Community Aquatic Monitoring Program (CAMP) is a CBMP that has collected littoral nekton assemblage data from estuaries in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence since 2003. Concerns with the CAMP sampling design (station placement and numbers) have prevented decision-makers from using the data to inform estuary health assessments. This study tested if CAMP’s sampling design that accommodates volunteer participation provides similar information as a scientific sampling approach. Six CAMP stations and six stations selected using a stratified random design were sampled at ten estuaries. A permutational-MANOVA revealed nekton assemblages were generally not significantly different between the two sampling designs. The current six CAMP stations are sufficient to detect the larger differences in species abundances that may indicate differences in estuary condition. The predicted increase in precision (2%) with twelve stations is not substantive enough to warrant an increased sampling effort. CAMP’s scientific utility is not limited by station selection bias or numbers. Furthermore, well-designed CBMPs can produce comparable data to scientific studies.
Highlights
Threats to the ecosystem health of estuaries, one of the most altered and at-risk aquatic environments [1], are predicted to worsen if development along estuaries and their watersheds continues unabated [2]
The cluster analysis grouped the two sampling designs together for each estuary, except for Cocagne, and the similarity profile (SIMPROF) test designated these groupings as significant (Figure 2)
The first objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that nekton assemblage data collected from the Community Aquatic Monitoring Program (CAMP) stations would not be significantly different than data collected from stations located through a stratified random design
Summary
Threats to the ecosystem health of estuaries, one of the most altered and at-risk aquatic environments [1], are predicted to worsen if development along estuaries and their watersheds continues unabated [2]. Long-term monitoring programs provide the critical historical data required to define the natural variability of an estuary and capture change over time [7,8,9,10]. Both abiotic and biotic indicators are recommended to adequately monitor estuaries [11]. Time and cost constraints can lead programs to sample only abiotic indicators [4], and estuary biological monitoring programs are constantly under threat of being canceled [12]
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