Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, U.K.
University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, U.K.
Conserv Biol. 2019 Oct;33(5):1174-1186. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13312. Epub 2019 Apr 29.
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.
过去十年中，海洋保护区（MPAs）的数量大幅增加，这给保护工作者在空间范围和需要评估的栖息地和生物区系的多样性方面带来了重大的后勤挑战。自主水下车辆（AUV）的摄影评估能够一致地描述多种栖息地，在我们的案例中包括岩石和沉积物的镶嵌。作为一个案例研究，我们使用这种方法调查了大黑格弗拉斯海洋保护区（凯尔特海，东北大西洋）。我们区分了 7 种生物区系，检测到生物量、物种密度、物种多样性和动物群组成的统计显著变化，并确定了每个栖息地的显著指示物种。我们的结果表明，基于 AUV 的摄影可以为生态研究和实际的海洋保护提供可靠的数据。将每个采样单位的个体数量标准化到最小数量，而不是固定的海底面积，可能是定义生态适当采样单位的一种有价值的方法。虽然组合采样代表了标准实践的改变，但其他用户应该考虑在保护研究中采用这种方法的潜在好处。它在海洋环境中具有广泛的适用性，并已成功应用于深海保护和环境影响研究。如果没有一种适用于各种栖息地的具有成本效益的方法，就很难进一步对生物区系进行一致的分类，或者在快速扩展的全球 MPA 范围内定期评估其保护状况。
