Overview
EN ISO 16665:2013 / ISO 16665:2014 - Water quality - Guidelines for quantitative sampling and sample processing of marine soft‑bottom macrofauna - provides harmonized guidance for designing and conducting quantitative benthic macrofauna sampling in subtidal soft‑bottom marine environments. Prepared by ISO/TC 147 in collaboration with CEN, the standard updates and supersedes the 2005 edition and targets routine environmental monitoring and impact assessment, including work related to the EU Water Framework Directive.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope and applicability
- Applies to subtidal soft‑bottom faunal sampling where grab or coring devices can collect material retained on a mesh screen of 0.5 mm or 1 mm aperture.
- Explicitly does not cover: deep water (>750 m), dredge/sledge sampling, meiofauna, intertidal/estuarine specific procedures, SCUBA sampling, in‑situ recolonization assays, or statistical design (though some elements may still be informative).
- Sampling programme development
- Guidance on survey objectives, station positioning and selection of reference sites to enable temporal and spatial comparability.
- Equipment and field procedures
- Requirements for sampling devices (see informative Annex A), documentation, field log keeping, sample fixation, and treatment of samples in the field.
- Laboratory processing
- Sorting, residue handling, taxon determination, quantification, biomass measurement and storage/archiving of material.
- Quality assurance / quality control
- QA/QC measures including training, equipment calibration, checklists, auditing and procedures to ensure intercomparability between operators and surveys.
- Ancillary guidance
- Informative annexes cover sampling devices, processing live specimens, biomass methods and handling particularly large samples.
- Positioning accuracy
- Accuracy of position fixing is recommended to be determined according to geographical area, equipment used and survey objective.
Practical applications and users
- Environmental consultancies and laboratories conducting marine benthic surveys, baseline assessments and routine monitoring.
- Governmental and regional agencies implementing water quality monitoring and marine environmental impact assessments.
- Marine ecologists and benthic taxonomists standardizing sample collection, processing, identification and archiving for monitoring programs.
- Project managers for offshore construction, dredging or licensing who require reproducible, quantitative benthic data.
Related standards and notes
- Endorsed by CEN as EN ISO 16665:2013 (identical text to ISO 16665:2014).
- Linked to broader ISO/TC 147 water quality guidance and to monitoring requirements under European directives (e.g., the EU Water Framework Directive).
- Designers of detailed research studies should supplement this guidance with dedicated survey design and statistical methodology references.
Keywords: EN ISO 16665:2013, ISO 16665:2014, water quality, soft‑bottom macrofauna sampling, quantitative sampling, sample processing, marine benthic surveys, grab sampling, mesh size.
