Livolsi, Mark C.Ringelman, Kevin M.Williams, Christopher K.2023-11-102023-11-102014-07-23Mark C. Livolsi, Kevin M. Ringelman, Christopher K. Williams; Subsampling Reduces Sorting Effort for Waterfowl Foods in Salt-Marsh Core Samples. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 1 December 2014; 5 (2): 380–386. doi: https://doi.org/10.3996/012014-JFWM-0021944-687Xhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/33630This article was originally published in Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.3996/012014-JFWM-002.Waterfowl researchers often use soil core samples to estimate food availability in foraging habitats, and these estimates are needed for bioenergetic models of carrying capacity. However, core sampling is frequently a time- and resource-intensive process, and some researchers have suggested that subsampling may be a valuable way to reduce processing time. We evaluated whether 10% and 25% by mass subsampling are appropriate techniques for reducing core-sorting effort while maintaining precision for samples taken in six separate habitat types along the Delaware bayshore. We found no significant difference between biomass found in 100% sorted cores and estimated biomass obtained by 10% and 25% subsampling. We found that 10% subsampling offered the greatest time savings, reducing mean sorting times by 77% (from 13.7 hours to 3.3 hours) from 100% sorted cores. We recommend that researchers consider subsampling to reduce core-sorting effort and cost, particularly when processing large numbers of cores.en-USbioenergeticscarrying capacitycore samplefood availabilityinvertebratemoist-soil seedwaterfowllife on landArticle