Standardisation of zooplankton sampling methods
Author: Marek Baxa, Published: Sept. 23, 2022, 1:10 p.m.
On 21.9.2022, a determination workshop for zooplankton was held at ENKI within the RAGO project with the participation of other project partners. The main objective was to unify sample processing methodologies. Different approaches to the evaluation of zooplankton samples were discussed with a view to further use of the results. Sampling and processing is different for economic (feeding pressure), scientific (biodiversity, biomass, ecosystem services) and other purposes. It is necessary to treat differently samples from deep or shallow waters and from oligotrophic to hypertrophic reservoirs. In addition, the distribution of zooplankton in the reservoir needs to be taken into account with regard to its patchiness and further recovery. Methodological procedures for formalising the processing of microscopic samples and interpretation of results were also discussed. The afternoon part of the workshop was devoted to the practical determination of microscopic samples.