Measuring coral size-frequency distribution using stereo video technology, a comparison with in situ measurements

Coral colony size-frequency distribution data offer valuable information about the ecological status of coral reefs. Such data are usually collected by divers in situ, but stereo video is being increasingly used for monitoring benthic marine communities and may be used to collect size information fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2015-05, Vol.187 (5), p.234-234, Article 234
Main Authors: Turner, Joseph A., Polunin, Nicholas V. C., Field, Stuart N., Wilson, Shaun K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anthozoa - classification
Anthozoa - physiology
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Climate change
Coral Reefs
Corals
Demographics
Digital imaging
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Frequency distribution
In situ measurement
Methods
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Software
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Summary:Coral colony size-frequency distribution data offer valuable information about the ecological status of coral reefs. Such data are usually collected by divers in situ, but stereo video is being increasingly used for monitoring benthic marine communities and may be used to collect size information for coral colonies. This study compared the size-frequency distributions of coral colonies obtained by divers measuring colonies ‘in situ’ with digital video imagery collected using stereo video and later processed using computer software. The size-frequency distributions of the two methods were similar for corymbose colonies, although distributions were different for massive, branching and all colonies combined. The differences are mainly driven by greater abundance of colonies >50 cm and fewer colonies 5 cm and was able to record measurements on 87 % of the colonies detected. However, stereo video only detected 57 % of marked colonies
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-015-4431-8