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Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments / ROBYN JONES

Swansea University Author: ROBYN JONES

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.57242

Abstract

Coastal marine environments are important ecological, economic and social areas providing valuable services such as coastal protection, areas of recreation and tourism, fishing, climate regulation, biotic materials and biofuels. Marine renewable energy developments in the coastal environment are bec...

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Published: Swansea 2021
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Unsworth, Richard ; Griffin, Ross
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57242
first_indexed 2021-06-29T13:53:17Z
last_indexed 2021-06-30T03:23:49Z
id cronfa57242
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2021-06-29T15:49:43.1581130 v2 57242 2021-06-29 Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments 6b13e2119afe893ffef0c2f926353436 ROBYN JONES ROBYN JONES true false 2021-06-29 Coastal marine environments are important ecological, economic and social areas providing valuable services such as coastal protection, areas of recreation and tourism, fishing, climate regulation, biotic materials and biofuels. Marine renewable energy developments in the coastal environment are becoming a key objective for many countries globally. Assessing and monitoring the impacts of these developments on features, such as coastal biodiversity, becomes a difficult prospect in these environments due to the complexity of marine process at the locations in which these developments are targeted. This thesis explores the main challenges faced when assessing biodiversity in dynamic coastal environments, in particular those susceptible to high levels of turbidity. Various underwater camera techniques were trialled in reduced visibility environments including baited remote underwater video (BRUV), drop-down video and hydroacoustic methods. This research successfully refined BRUV guidelines in the North-East Atlantic region and identified key methodological and environmental factors influencing data collected BRUV deployments. Key findings included mackerel as the recommended bait type in this region and highlighting the importance of collecting consistent metadata when using these methods. In areas of high turbidity, clear liquid optical chambers (CLOCs) were successfully used to enhance the quality of information gathered using underwater cameras when monitoring benthic fauna and fish assemblages. CLOCs were applied to both conventional BRUV camera systems and benthic drop-down camera systems. Improvements included image quality, species and habitat level identification, and taxonomic richness. Evaluations of the ARIS 3000 imaging sonar and its capability of visualising distinguishing identifying features in low visibility environments for motile fauna showed mixed results with morphologically distinct species such as elasmobranchs much clearer in the footage compared to individuals belonging to finfish families. A combined approach of optical and hydroacoustic camera methods may be most suitable for adequately assessing coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments. E-Thesis Swansea 1 5 2021 2021-05-01 10.23889/SUthesis.57242 ORCiD identifier https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9854-2294 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Unsworth, Richard ; Griffin, Ross Doctoral Ph.D Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS) and SEACAMS 2 2021-06-29T15:49:43.1581130 2021-06-29T14:49:16.4286827 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences ROBYN JONES 1 57242__20298__9a82cd7c8a46479eaddc0b1cbf741847.pdf Jones_Robyn_E_PhD_Thesis_Final_Redacted_Signature.pdf 2021-06-29T15:23:26.6559690 Output 56119078 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The author, Robyn Elizabeth Jones, 2021. true eng
title Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
spellingShingle Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
ROBYN JONES
title_short Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
title_full Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
title_fullStr Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
title_full_unstemmed Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
title_sort Camera methods for the assessment of coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments
author_id_str_mv 6b13e2119afe893ffef0c2f926353436
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6b13e2119afe893ffef0c2f926353436_***_ROBYN JONES
author ROBYN JONES
author2 ROBYN JONES
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.57242
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Coastal marine environments are important ecological, economic and social areas providing valuable services such as coastal protection, areas of recreation and tourism, fishing, climate regulation, biotic materials and biofuels. Marine renewable energy developments in the coastal environment are becoming a key objective for many countries globally. Assessing and monitoring the impacts of these developments on features, such as coastal biodiversity, becomes a difficult prospect in these environments due to the complexity of marine process at the locations in which these developments are targeted. This thesis explores the main challenges faced when assessing biodiversity in dynamic coastal environments, in particular those susceptible to high levels of turbidity. Various underwater camera techniques were trialled in reduced visibility environments including baited remote underwater video (BRUV), drop-down video and hydroacoustic methods. This research successfully refined BRUV guidelines in the North-East Atlantic region and identified key methodological and environmental factors influencing data collected BRUV deployments. Key findings included mackerel as the recommended bait type in this region and highlighting the importance of collecting consistent metadata when using these methods. In areas of high turbidity, clear liquid optical chambers (CLOCs) were successfully used to enhance the quality of information gathered using underwater cameras when monitoring benthic fauna and fish assemblages. CLOCs were applied to both conventional BRUV camera systems and benthic drop-down camera systems. Improvements included image quality, species and habitat level identification, and taxonomic richness. Evaluations of the ARIS 3000 imaging sonar and its capability of visualising distinguishing identifying features in low visibility environments for motile fauna showed mixed results with morphologically distinct species such as elasmobranchs much clearer in the footage compared to individuals belonging to finfish families. A combined approach of optical and hydroacoustic camera methods may be most suitable for adequately assessing coastal biodiversity in low visibility environments.
published_date 2021-05-01T04:54:59Z
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score 11.089572

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