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Research Document - 2002/121

Review of data quality and sampling protocols of the Shorekeepers' guide

By G.S. Jamieson, R. Scrosati, C. Schwarz, C. Levings, and B. Smiley

Abstract

The Shorekeepers' Guide, released by DFO in 1999 following three years of development, is currently being used by a number of volunteer groups through out coastal British Columbia in the monitoring of intertidal ecosystems. Data have been collected since 1997, and while improvements in Guide protocols continue to be made, it requires a multi-year data series to begin a process of data quality and analysis evaluation. Here, we present results from analyses of data that have been collected at the same locations over time to evaluate the accuracy and precision with which data are being reported, and the utility of existing data recording procedures. Our analyses need to be considered in the context that 1) some of the data analysed here were collected early in the program's development, i.e., some problems described here were identified in other ways and have already been dealt with, and 2) in the single year audit of sampling procedures reported here, logistic difficulties resulted in an excessively long time period between samplings, with the result that in some site audits, seasonal differences in community structure made the detection of possible data collection inconsistencies impossible. Nevertheless, many of the observations and recommendations presented here are relevant and constructive. Recommendations have been or are being incorporated into on-going survey and analytical procedures, and past shorekeeper data are being edited, where possible, so as to ensure the most accurate and credible database exists.

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