Implications of Sampling Period and Frequency on Baseline Ichthyoplankton and Coral Larvae Entrainment Estimates

Determining an appropriate sampling period and frequency can have implications on the quality and utility of an entrainment dataset as well as the cost of data collection.  Tetra Tech and Reef Research have been collecting baseline ichthyoplankton and coral larvae data at the proposed Aguirre GasPort, located in Puerto Rico since 2012. Initial sampling efforts included plankton tows collected on a once-per-season frequency for ichthyoplankton. Plankton tows were also collected on alternating days, for a total of 10-days during the annual coral spawning period.  After discussions with regulatory agencies, the second year of baseline data included monthly ichthyoplankton sampling and an expanded coral larvae sampling period to account for variation in source populations throughout the year.  In this presentation, we provide comparisons of the seasonal vs. monthly sampling frequencies and implications on the utility of the resulting dataset.  Similarly, for the coral larvae data, an adjustment to the sampling period was an important factor in the ability to characterize the coral larvae present in the water column.