Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE), Marine Institute, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2010 Dec 29;5(12):e14461. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014461.
Following governments' policies to tackle global climate change, the development of offshore renewable energy sites is likely to increase substantially over coming years. All such developments interact with the seabed to some degree and so a key need exists for suitable methodology to monitor the impacts of large-scale Marine Renewable Energy Installations (MREIs). Many of these will be situated on mixed or rocky substrata, where conventional methods to characterise the habitat are unsuitable. Traditional destructive sampling is also inappropriate in conservation terms, particularly as safety zones around (MREIs) could function as Marine Protected Areas, with positive benefits for biodiversity. Here we describe a technique developed to effectively monitor the impact of MREIs and report the results of its field testing, enabling large areas to be surveyed accurately and cost-effectively. The methodology is based on a high-definition video camera, plus LED lights and laser scale markers, mounted on a "flying array" that maintains itself above the seabed grounded by a length of chain, thus causing minimal damage. Samples are taken by slow-speed tows of the gear behind a boat (200 m transects). The HD video and randomly selected frame grabs are analysed to quantify species distribution. The equipment was tested over two years in Lyme Bay, UK (25 m depth), then subsequently successfully deployed in demanding conditions at the deep (>50 m) high-energy Wave Hub site off Cornwall, UK, and a potential tidal stream energy site in Guernsey, Channel Islands (1.5 ms⁻¹ current), the first time remote samples from such a habitat have been achieved. The next stage in the monitoring development process is described, involving the use of Remote Operated Vehicles to survey the seabed post-deployment of MREI devices. The complete methodology provides the first quantitative, relatively non-destructive method for monitoring mixed-substrate benthic communities beneath MPAs and MREIs pre- and post-device deployment.
随着各国政府应对全球气候变化政策的实施，未来几年，海上可再生能源的开发很可能大幅增加。所有这些开发活动都会在某种程度上与海底相互作用，因此需要一种合适的方法来监测大型海洋可再生能源装置的影响。其中许多将建在混合或岩石基底上，传统的栖息地特征描述方法在此并不适用。从保护的角度来看，传统的破坏性采样也是不合适的，特别是因为（MREI）周围的安全区可以作为海洋保护区，对生物多样性有积极的好处。在这里，我们描述了一种开发的技术，用于有效地监测 MREI 的影响，并报告其现场测试的结果，使大面积能够准确和具有成本效益地进行调查。该方法基于高清摄像机、加 LED 灯和激光刻度标记，安装在一个“飞行阵列”上，该阵列由一段链条保持在海底上方，从而造成最小的损害。样本是通过船后低速拖曳设备（200 米横断）采集的。高清视频和随机选择的帧捕获被分析以量化物种分布。该设备在英国莱姆湾进行了两年的测试（25 米深），随后在英国康沃尔的深海（>50 米）高能波浪中心站点和海峡群岛的一个潜在潮汐能站点成功部署，这是第一次从这样的栖息地远程采集样本。描述了监测开发过程的下一个阶段，涉及使用远程操作车辆在 MREI 设备部署后调查海底。该完整方法提供了第一个用于监测 MPA 和 MREI 下混合基质海底群落的定量、相对非破坏性方法，用于设备部署前后。
