A resourceful and adaptable method to obtain data on the status of seagrass meadows

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dc.contributor.authorFoster, N.
dc.contributor.authorFotheringham, D.
dc.contributor.authorBrock, D.
dc.contributor.authorWaycott, M.
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractCoastline degradation, as well as subsequent ecosystem loss, has long been attributed to anthropogenic stress and is an all too familiar issue affecting coastal habitats. Should management and conservation efforts fail to improve the quality of coastal ecosystems and the services they provide, they may be irrevocably damaged. A significant limitation to conservation efforts is often the ability to track change in seagrass meadows due to the significant time and cost of monitoring efforts in underwater habitats. Remote sensing is often a tool used to improve our knowledge of habitat status, however, ground-truthing remote sensing results is difficult when historical data is required. We apply an innovative and resourceful approach to the attainment of data to check the status of seagrass meadows from resources that are available in many areas due to the collection of other data sets. We employ the use of underwater digital photographs originally taken for monitoring sediment movement patterns. We were successfully able to develop a method to critically and easily evaluate these photographs for habitat status, enabling the generation of a data set unable to be obtained in other ways. This method can further be utilised in a citizen science project, for other underwater digital photographs, to support the assessment of coastal submerged ecosystem habitat status.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityNicole R. Foster, Douglas G. Fotheringham, Daniel J. Brock, Michelle Waycott
dc.identifier.citationAquatic Botany, 2017; 141:17-21
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.aquabot.2017.04.006
dc.identifier.issn0304-3770
dc.identifier.issn1879-1522
dc.identifier.orcidFoster, N. [0000-0001-7159-7391]
dc.identifier.orcidWaycott, M. [0000-0002-0822-0564]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/106692
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rights© 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2017.04.006
dc.subjectSeagrass; digital photographs; remote sensing; South Australia; coastal monitoring; citizen science
dc.titleA resourceful and adaptable method to obtain data on the status of seagrass meadows
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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