Journal
DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART I-OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PAPERS
Volume 116, Issue -, Pages 200-219Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2016.08.009
Keywords
Vent-ecology; Ecological mapping; Visual survey; 3D reconstruction; Underwater vehicle
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Funding
- Japan Science and Technology CREST grant program for the Establishment of core technology for the preservation and regeneration of marine biodiversity and ecosystems
- Australia-Japan Foundation [G176443]
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This paper describes a method to survey the distribution of megabenthos over multi-hectare regions of the seafloor. Quantitative biomass estimates are made by combining high-resolution 3D image reconstructions, used to model spatial relationships between representative taxa, with lower-resolution reconstructions taken over a wider area in which the distribution of larger predatory animals can be observed. The method is applied to a region of the Iheya North field that was the target of scientific drilling during the IODP Expedition 331 in 2010. An area of 2.5 ha was surveyed 3 years and 4 months after the site was drilled. More than 100,000 organisms from 6 taxa were identified. The visible effects of drilling on the distribution of megabenthos were confined to a 20 m radius of the artificially created hydrothermal discharges, with the associated densities of biomass lower than observed in nearby naturally discharging areas. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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