11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

Poster Mini-Symposium 16: Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring of Coral Reefs - New Technologies and Approaches
16.530
Satellite Detection Of Low Wind Events Conducive To Mass Coral Bleaching: The
Noaa Coral Reef Watch Experimental Doldrums Product
Dwight GLEDHILL* 1 , T.R.L. CHRISTENSEN 1 , L.J. GRAMER 2 , R.K. HOEKE 3 , R.
IGLESIAS 4 , Derek MANZELLO 2 , C.M. EAKIN 5 , W.J. SKIRVING 5 , G. LIU 1 , S.F.
HERON 5 , J.A. MORGAN 1 , A.E. STRONG 5
1 IMSG at NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Silver Spring, MD, 2 NOAA OAR AOML, Miami,
FL, 3 NOAA Fisheries and Ecosystems PIFS, Honolulu, HI, 4 Prieto of UNAM in Puerto
Morelos, Puerto Morelos, Mexico, 5 NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Silver Spring, MD
It is generally thought that wind influences the conditions that cause coral bleaching.
Wind-driven water movement mixes cooler water up to the surface, and facilitates the
removal of waste products from corals. Wind-generated waves can reduce harmful levels
of incoming solar radiation by surface reflection and refraction, and light can be further
attenuated by sediments resuspended by wind-driven turbulence. Periods of sustained
low wind may therefore serve as a contributing factor to coral bleaching, by promoting
environmental conditions conducive to high thermal and/or light stress. NOAA Coral
Reef Watch now offers an experimental near-real-time doldrums product that identifies
regions of sustained low wind speed, derived from satellite measurements of surface
wind speeds obtained from NASA's Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT). The algorithm
was derived from in situ data including wind speed, light penetration, and temperature.
These persistent low wind regions are updated daily on the web, to help coral reef
managers and scientists better assess conditions that may lead to coral bleaching.
16.531
Semi-Automatic Patch Outlines And Cover Classification From Marine Benthic
Communities
Nuria TEIXIDO* 1 , Emilie COLLEU 2 , Didier BOLBO 3 , Joaquim GARRABOU 4
1 Centre for Advanced Studies in Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain, 2 Institut
Géographique National, Ramonville Saint Agne, France, 3 Institut Géographique National,
Saint-Mandé, France, 4 Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Marseille, France
Knowledge on the abundance, spatial distribution, and diversity of species within a
community is fundamental to understand ecosystems. The use of modern imaging
techniques provides a view of non-destroyed benthic community structure over large
spatial and temporal scales. However, there still is a paucity of analytical methods to
obtain ecologically relevant data from images. The aim of this research is twofold: first,
we introduce a software program to get semi-automatically segmented images (patch
outlines) from underwater photographs of rocky benthic communities, where each
individual patch is routinely associated to its cover and perimeter; second, we provide a
semi-automatically classification of species or cover categories. The process starts with a
hierarchical segmentation, using a colour space, texture parameters, and shape criteria
adapted to the problem of segmenting complex benthic images (e.g. characterized by high
coverage of sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, and ascidians). As an end product, we obtain
an image segmented into classified homogenous regions, which present measures for
each part of the segmentation. The development of this semi-automatically outline tool
and classification constitute an important step forward in the analysis of the sea-bottom
images and represent a powerful technological platform to analyze underwater images
not only for coral reefs in the tropics but also to other marine rocky habitats (e.g. from
Mediterranean benthic communities to Antarctic habitats in temperate and polar seas,
respectively) at any scale.
16.532
Development And Implementation Of A Marine Monitoring Program In The National
Park Service Pacific Island Network (PACN) Using A Split Panel Design
Eric BROWN* 1 , Larry BASCH 2 , Jim BEETS 3 , Peter CRAIG 4 , Raychelle DANIEL 5 , Kimber
DEVERSE 5 , Gordon DICUS 5 , Alan FRIEDLANDER 6 , Fritz KLASNER 5 , Tahzay JONES 5 ,
Dwayne MINTON 7 , Allison SNYDER 5
1 Kalaupapa NHP, U.S. National Park Service, Kalaupapa, HI, 2 Pacific Islands Coral Reef
Program, U.S. National Park Service, Honolulu, HI, 3 Department of Marine Science, University
of Hawaii-Hilo, Hilo, HI, 4 National Park of American Samoa, U.S. National Park Service, Pago
Pago, American Samoa, 5 Inventory and Monitoring Program-Pacific Island Network, U.S.
National Park Service, Volcano, HI, 6 Biogeography Branch and The Oceanic Institute, NOAA,
Waimanalo, HI, 7 Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
Honolulu, HI
The National Park Service in cooperation with the University of Hawaii-Hilo, NOAA’s
Biogeography Branch, and the Oceanic Institute initiated a marine monitoring program in four
national parks around the Pacific. Monitoring protocols for 1) benthic community, 2) fish, and
3) water quality were co-located and co-visited. The benthic community protocol addresses
changes in the composition and physical structure of the coral reef benthos, patterns in coral
recruitment, and the frequency of disease/bleaching in corals. The fish protocol examines trends
in the abundance and biomass of coral reef fishes of ecological, cultural or harvest significance.
The water quality protocol investigates spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, oxygen,
pH, and turbidity in various water bodies within the parks.
A split panel sampling design was implemented with thirty randomly selected sites sampled
annually between 10 and 20 meters depth. Fifteen of the sites were permanent with the
remaining sites randomly selected each year. The split panel design allows for increased spatial
sampling while simultaneously examining multiple temporal scales and permitting broader
ecological and statistical inference beyond that provided by fixed or permanent sampling
locations alone. The water quality protocol doubled the number of sites to increase statistical
power. This sampling regime represents the maximum sustainable effort given logistical and
fiscal constraints. Based on previous data, the sampling design should have statistical power
ranging from 0.34 (fish) to 0.80 (benthic) to 0.99 (water quality) to detect relative change in
various parameters after 10 years. A principal investigator for each protocol oversees data
analysis and reporting, park staff facilitates data collection, and a park lead ensures that vital
signs address park management needs.
16.533
Three Dimensional Laser Scanning Of Coral Skeleton
Michal RAZ BAHAT* 1 , Hanny FAIBISH 2 , Buki RINKEVICH 1
1 Invertebrate Zoology, National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and
Limnological Research, Haifa, Israel, 2 Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences Ben- Gurion
University of the Ne, Be’er- Sheva, Israel
In many taxa, the organism’s surface area is a fundamental characteristic, determining
biological and physical levels of impacts. In scleractinian corals, as in many sessile colonial
organisms, measurements of surface area are used to allow indirect estimates of biomass,
assessments of photobiology, nutrient dynamics, population dynamics of symbiotic organisms,
metabolism, growth rate, reproduction, and other ecologically important processes. However,
despite this routine use of surface area measurements, the outcomes are no sufficiently accurate
and repeatable.
Notwithstanding the intense efforts invested, in the last three decades, in developing an accurate
and rapid method for direct surface measuring, especially in branching corals with variable 3D
architectures, all attempts failed to develop an accurate and consistent methodology
characterized by short analysis and processing time. Here we present a novel application, using
a 3D desktop laser scanner for imaging and measuring accurately skeletal surface area of coral
fragments and whole small colonies. The scanner is easy to operate and economically viable as
a scientific tool in every laboratory. We present the scanner surface measuring performance,
and compare results to the performance of several commonly used methods: the foil paper
technique, methylen blue dipping and caliber measuring, showing the advantages of our new
approach.
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