Studies on the variability among macrofouling test coupons exposed in Bombay Harbour

Abstract

Estimations of within panel series variability with respect to number of species present, per cent coverage and species composition are done with the aid of statistical method. The quantification of macrofouling settled on test coupons (15 replicates) immersed for 30, 60 and 90 days during nonmonsoon months was made. The paper discusses three biological parameters that are considered in evolving field method for assessing the sedentary life obtained from two different environments. The results suggest that at any specific time, variability between panels with respect to species composition is minimal at both the sites. For achieving 10% of confidence intervals (acceptable limit), 4-8 test coupons are adequate to give a dependable data. The study also revealed that variability exist within a series of panels at study sites, particularly variability in species count and per cent cover is high at nearshore waters than that at tidal basin.