ABSTRACT
A visual, nondestructive technique for measuring epiphyte abundance was developed and evaluated. The technique provides a tool for rapid estimates of
in situ
epiphyte biomass on
Halodule wrightii
, to be used in association with a large-scale seagrass monitoring program. Tool development included quantifying and documenting, with photographs, a representative distribution of epiphyte loadings (epiphyte biomass to seagrass biomass) within the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. This tool, the Epiphyte Photo-Index (EPI), may be taken into the Þeld to quantify epiphyte loads by matching observed,
in situ
, epiphyte loads with the most representative EPI photograph. Evaluation tests found the accuracy of the EPI estimate increased as the actual
in situ
loadings increased. The EPI explained 56% of the variability with a mean coefÞcient of variability of 14%. The EPI consists of 25 representative photographs and is utilized during summer sampling of 81 Þxed seagrass transects throughout the lagoon. The EPI was implemented with minimal training. Further testing to assess precision and repeatability of this sampling tool is warranted.
