POINT QUADRAT VERSUS VIDEO TRANSECT ESTIMATES OF THE COVER OF BENTHICRED ALGAE

Point quadrat (PQ) and video transect (VT) techniques were compared to determine the feasibility of using the latter to sample subtidal red algal assemblages. More taxa were found by PQs than by VTs, both overa ll and on a per quadrat basis. VTs tended to overestimate the percent cover of rock and articulated coralline algae. VTs were incapable of r esolving many of the less common red algae. Video sampling required le ss time in the field than point quadrats but laboratory analysis was v ery time consuming. Lack of resolution and extensive laboratory analys is make this technique insufficient for sampling benthic red algal pop ulations. However, VTs may be useful in documenting large-scale differ ences between regions, such as the percent cover of understory kelps o r the density of large mobile invertebrates in central California kelp forests. Video sampling has been successfully used in the intertidal but traditional, random point quadrats still appear to be the most eff icient and accurate way to sample benthic communities in kelp forests.