Abstract
We designed, constructed, and tested a new grab sampler to collect benthic macroinvertebrates and sediments from shallow (< 3 m) aquatic systems. This light (4.5 kg), inexpensive sampler is easy to construct and has a higher rate of successful closure and sample retention than the Peterson, petite Ponar, or Ekman samplers. In field tests conducted at three central Arkansas (USA) lakes, the estimated mean densities of macroinvertebrates collected by our device did not differ significantly from the Ekman, Peterson or petite Ponar grabs in muddy benthic habitats but were significantly less than the Ekman and petite Ponar grabs in woody and clay habitats. However, there were no significant differences in the taxa obtained or their representation in the samples collected with the tested grab samplers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 595-602 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Freshwater Ecology |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2005 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Neely Claassen, Joshua Bryant, and Chris Roberts for their assistance with the construction of the sampler and Garin Holman and Alicia Makia for their assistance in the field. In addition, we thank Mark Shostak for his comments. This study was funded by a Pem State University Research Development Grant.