Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-24-2022

Publication Title

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Keywords

Remotely operated vehicle, ROV, Autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV, Technical diving, Image distortion, Sponges, Coral reefs, Photogrammetry, Sampling

ISSN

0171-8630

Volume

686

First Page

201

Last Page

211

Abstract

Highly divergent estimates of benthic cover of sponges have been reported for Caribbean mesophotic reefs (90-100 m) based on quadrat point-intercept data collection using 2 methods: visual surveys conducted in situ by technical divers, and analyses of photographs taken by unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The second method has been criticized for potential errors from image distortion caused by variable camera angle relative to the substratum, but without a broader comparison of both methods. We find that studies that have used the UUV-based method are advantageous for a number of reasons, most importantly: (1) access to the full mesophotic zone, (2) higher sample replication, and (3) reduced likelihood of sampling bias. For tech diving surveys conducted at 91 m, i.e. the deepest depth reported using this method but only mid-way through the mesophotic zone, studies have reported particularly high sponge cover (~80 vs.

Comments

Opinion Piece

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ORCID ID

0000-0001-8385-7066

DOI

10.3354/meps14018

Peer Reviewed

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