the typical size of sampling gear (5 m^2 patches to be sampled using 0.25 m^2 gear),then sub-sampling is appropriate.
Instead of harvesting one 25 m^2 plot as a sample, place the 0.25 m^2 gear in the center of the selected site and sample.
Then repeat sampling with the outer edge of the sampling frame exactly 2.8 m (the radius of a 25 m^2 circle) from the center at each cardinal compass heading (Figure 4-3).
These five harvested areas are sub-samples of the 25 m^2 area, and are averaged to produce one replicate, accounting for the size, yet limiting the sampling to a total of 1.25 m^2