Publication
Optimising Sampling Strategies in Coral Reefs Using Large-Area Mosaics
Publisher:
MDPI AG
Date:
05-12-2019
DOI:
10.3390/RS11242907
Abstract: Adequately s ling benthic cover in marine ecosystems is a challenge with most methods encompassing only a small portion of the area for which cover is estimated. Recent advances in photogrammetric techniques are providing opportunity to map expansive areas of reef. This study aimed to evaluate the adequate level of s ling for traditional quadrat-based designs at ecologically relevant scales. We used large-area (~250 m2), high-resolution (0.911 ± 0.143 mm ixel) mosaics to assess the precision and reproducibility of quadrat-based benthic s ling and identify the most efficient strategy (size and number of quadrats). There was a strong relationship between the percent cover of benthic classes and the level of s ling effort required to adequately s le them. As expected, larger quadrats were found to be more efficient when s ling effort was expressed in number of quadrats. This study aims to identify the optimal level of s ling (least effort that would result in a given target precision) to characterize coral reef benthic communities (whatever they are) within each site. As such, the sites selected were intentionally very different and together represented the broad scale of heterogeneity found in shallow coral reef communities. Abundance data can be used in combination with the relationships presented here to determine the optimal s ling protocols for management approaches to coral reef monitoring.