I want to describe the abundance of several algae genera in the intertidal zone, on a mostly rock beach. I cannot use any destructive method (weighing or similar). Checking the percent cover in quadrats along the shore seems like the best option, but there are many details I'm not sure of.
I would appreciate answers for any of the following, and also let me know if there's a better method I'm missing...
1. How do I deal with unevenness of the rocks? My plot would be 2-dimensional, so doesn't the 3-dimensionality of the substrate distort my results?
2. What's better - to subdivide the plot into small quadrats and do the counting on site, or take a picture from above and analyze the plots back in the lab (with ImageJ or similar)? If I do take an image, how high should it be above ground so the image edges are not distorted?
3. How do I maintain the same height (relative to the tide) for all the plots? And not only for all plots in one day of sampling - I need to be able to return to the same site next year and conduct another survey comparable to the first one.
4. Is a 30x30cm plot ok? I've seen people using 50x10 or otherwise elongated plots to have no height differences within-plot. But is that crucial if my "high" and "low" are several meters apart?
Thanks.
Maybe it is good to make the quadrat method first (following the principle of the quadrats), and after you can compare the seaweed abundance flying a drone in your study area.
Drone's a really good idea. But do you have a suggestion on how to quantify abundances from drone images?
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