We compared samples collected from 10 substrates of various compositions with a single-probe freeze-core sampler, a triple-probe freeze-core sampler, a McNeil sampler, and a shovel. The accuracy with which these devices sampled particles larger than 50 mm in diameter varied; they were oversampled by the freeze-core devices, sampled in proportion to their availability by a shovel, and sampled inconsistently by the McNeil sampler. The geometric mean particle size and variance of single-probe freeze-core samples consistently exceeded those of samples collected with the other devices. Most sample means also exceeded the test substrate means. By excluding the proportions of particles larger than 50 mm in diameter in our analyses, we found that proportions of several particles sizes in samples collected by different methods differed significantly from the actual proportions in test substrates. There were few differences between the single- and triple-probe freeze-core samples or between McNeil and shovel samples. All four samplers were biased, but the McNeil sampler most frequently produced samples that approximated the true substrate composition.
A conceptual model for unbiased calculations of invertebrate abundances from freeze core samples