Sampling scales to characterize estuarine macroinfaunal patch dynamics, Corpus Christi Bay, Texas obtained from 1996-11-01 to 1997-07-03

Estuarine benthic macroinfauna have aggregated, patchy distributions, making accurate community measurements dependent upon sampling. Yet, surveys for assessment, monitoring, or research seldom employ a range of sampling regimes to fully characterize the scales of spatial distributions. The purpose of this study was to determine the appropriate spatial scales to characterize benthic infaunal communities in Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, USA. Macroinfauna were sampled with small (6.7 cm) and large cores (15 cm) to determine if different sampling sizes characterized different spatial scales. Vertical distribution was sampled from 0 - 20 cm at different sections (0-3 cm, 3-10 cm, and 10-20 cm). Eleven replicates of small cores were collected to assess species accumulation with area sampled.