Biometric assessment of deep-sea vent megabenthic communities using multi-resolution 3D image reconstructions

Thornton, Blair; Bodenmann, Adrian; Pizarro, Oscar; Williams, Stefan B.; Friedman, Ariell; Nakajima, Reiko; Takai, Ken; Motoki, Kaori; Watsuji, Tomo‐o; Hirayama, Hisako; Matsui, Yohei; Watanabe, Hiromi; Ura, Tamaki

doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2016.08.009

Cited by 52 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…; Thornton et al. ). Our approach is potentially applicable to any image‐data set that can be partitioned into ecologically relevant subsets based on some known or identifiable environmental variable or variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Monitoring mosaic biotopes in a marine conservation zone by autonomous underwater vehicle

Benoist

Morris

Bett

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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The number of marine protected areas (MPAs) has increased dramatically in the last decade and poses a major logistic challenge for conservation practitioners in terms of spatial extent and the multiplicity of habitats and biotopes that now require assessment. Photographic assessment by autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) enables the consistent description of multiple habitats, in our case including mosaics of rock and sediment. As a case study, we used this method to survey the Greater Haig Fras marine conservation zone (Celtic Sea, northeast Atlantic). We distinguished 7 biotopes, detected statistically significant variations in standing stocks, species density, species diversity, and faunal composition, and identified significant indicator species for each habitat. Our results demonstrate that AUV‐based photography can produce robust data for ecological research and practical marine conservation. Standardizing to a minimum number of individuals per sampling unit, rather than to a fixed seafloor area, may be a valuable means of defining an ecologically appropriate sampling unit. Although composite sampling represents a change in standard practice, other users should consider the potential benefits of this approach in conservation studies. It is broadly applicable in the marine environment and has been successfully implemented in deep‐sea conservation and environmental impact studies. Without a cost‐effective method, applicable across habitats, it will be difficult to further a coherent classification of biotopes or to routinely assess their conservation status in the rapidly expanding global extent of MPAs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Monitoring mosaic biotopes in a marine conservation zone by autonomous underwater vehicle

Benoist

Morris

Bett

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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“…Visual‐based mapping surveys using ROVs (Smart et al, ; Thornton et al, ) are essentially the same kind of task as the observation conducted by Hobalin in that the vehicles are required to maintain a constant altitude and optically observe the seafloor. Therefore, the surveys conducted using Hobalin are superior to those conducted using only ROVs in terms of the following: Hobalin is easy to operate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual and Autonomous Survey of Hydrothermal Vents Using a Hovering‐Type AUV: Launching Hobalin Into the Western Offshore of Kumejima Island

Okamoto

Seta²,

Sasano

et al. 2019

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have become promising tools for marine geological surveys to collect information such as the topography of the seafloor and the location of hydrothermal plumes. Visual surveys and sampling are mainly conducted using human-occupied vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. To obtain detailed visual data more efficiently, a hovering-type AUV (Hobalin), which has the novel ability to autonomously navigate within a vent field, was developed to explore hydrothermal deposits. This vehicle was deployed in an active hydrothermal vent field located in the western offshore of Kumejima Island at a depth of approximately 1,400 m. Visual observations were performed with submillimeter image resolution via low-altitude navigation using still cameras. Moreover, a height estimation method for chimney structures was proposed utilizing an obstacle avoidance system composed of a sheet laser and a forward-looking camera with hovering maneuver capability. It was determined that hovering-type AUVs can facilitate the effective survey of hydrothermal vents and the acquired data can be utilized for subsequent sampling by human-occupied vehicles and remotely operated vehicles.

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“…The system is as a powerful tool to study the marine environment on hectare order scales. Entire vent colonies can potentially be mapped in a short time [18], and the resolution it achieves is sufficient to map deposits protruding by as little as a few centimetres from their surroundings. The applications to quantify megabenthos and deposit volumes illustrate the opportunities high resolution visual and bathymetric data offers scientific studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methods for quantitative studies of seafloor hydrothermal systems using 3D visual reconstructions

et al. 2017

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Abstract3D visual mapping of the seafloor has found applications ranging from environment monitoring and survey of marine minerals to underwater archaeology and inspection of modern artificial structures. However, the attenuation of light is significantly more pronounced in water than in air or in space, and so in order to obtain underwater images in colour, it is typically necessary to be within 2-3 m of the seafloor. In addition to the high risk of collision when operating underwater vehicles at such low altitudes, the limited area of the seafloor covered in each image means large area surveys require a significant investment of time. In this research, we aim to increase the efficiency of mapping large areas of the seafloor by developing an underwater imaging system that can take colour images at ranges of more than 10 m, so that each image can cover a larger area, together with the necessary algorithms to automatically process the data it obtains. The system was deployed to map artificial hydrothermal vents in Iheya North field using the ROV Hyper-Dolphin in October 2012. The surveyed area is of particular interest to the research community, as multiple artificial vent holes were drilled during a mission in 2010, which locally impacted the flow of hydrothermal fluids. In this paper, we describe the methods used to process the data that the imaging system obtains and demonstrate how the mapping data can be used in quantitative studies of the seafloor. Habitats of Shinkaia crosnieri squat lobsters, which are abundant in the hydrothermally active areas, are identified in the maps and their population density calculated, and the amount of hydrothermal deposits that have grown on the artificial vent is derived from the mapping data. The work demonstrates how 3D visual mapping can be applied to benthic biology and geological studies.

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Biometric assessment of deep-sea vent megabenthic communities using multi-resolution 3D image reconstructions

Cited by 52 publications

References 66 publications

Monitoring mosaic biotopes in a marine conservation zone by autonomous underwater vehicle

Monitoring mosaic biotopes in a marine conservation zone by autonomous underwater vehicle

Visual and Autonomous Survey of Hydrothermal Vents Using a Hovering‐Type AUV: Launching Hobalin Into the Western Offshore of Kumejima Island

Methods for quantitative studies of seafloor hydrothermal systems using 3D visual reconstructions

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