Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 937

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The continuing global decline of the health of the sea, and the increasing depletion of marine resources and biodiversity, caused by human activity and climate change, have led to ever-increasing international concern. These changes in the marine environment highlight the importance of effective monitoring of the ecology of the benthos which has been shown to be a sensitive index of such alterations.

Completely revised and updated to include many new methods and technologies, this Fourth Edition of Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos provides comprehensive coverage on the tools and techniques available to those working in the area. Commencing with an overview of the design and analysis of benthic surveys, the book continues with chapters covering the sedimentary environment, imaging and diving techniques, macro- and meiofauna techniques, deep sea sampling, energy flow and production. An additional new chapter provided in this edition covers phytobenthos techniques.

Written by many of the world’s leading authorities in marine sampling techniques and use, and edited by Professor Anastasios Eleftheriou, this comprehensive Fourth Edition is an essential tool for all marine and environmental scientists, ecologists, fisheries workers and oceanographers. Libraries in all research establishments and universities where these subjects are studied and taught will find this book to be a hugely valuable addition to their collections.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contributors

Dedication

Preface to the Fourth Edition

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Design and Analysis in Benthic Surveys in Environmental Sampling

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Variability in benthic populations

1.3 Appropriate replication

1.4 Size of sampling unit

1.5 Independence in sampling

1.6 Multivariate measures of assemblages

1.7 Transformations and scales of measurement

1.8 Data-checking and quality control

1.9 Detecting environmental impacts as statistical interactions

1.10 Precautionary principles and errors in interpretations

1.11 Precision and the size of samples

1.12 Gradients and hierarchies in sampling

1.13 Combining results from different places or times

1.14 Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter 2: Characterising the Physical Properties of Seabed Habitats

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Remote acoustic methods for surveying the seabed

2.3 Particle (grain) size analysis

2.4 Other important sediment properties

Disclaimer

References

Chapter 3: Imaging Techniques

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Acoustic imaging

3.3 Video

3.4 Photography

3.5 Carrier platforms

3.6 Special applications

3.7 Laboratory imaging

3.8 Image analysis

3.9 Afternote

References

Chapter 4: Diving

4.1 Diving systems

4.2 Saturation diving and underwater habitats

4.3 Data collection and recording

4.4 Underwater site marking and relocation

4.5 Sampling methods

4.6 Other study techniques

4.7 Survey methods

References

Chapter 5: Macrofauna Techniques

5.1 Littoral observation and collection

5.2 Remote collection

5.3 Working sampling gear at sea

5.4 Efficiency of benthos sampling gear

5.5 Choice of a sampler

5.6 Treatment and sorting of samples

5.7 Data recording

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter 6: Meiofauna Techniques

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Sample collection

6.3 Fixation and preservation

6.4 Sample processing

6.5 Storage and preservation

6.6 Sample splitting

6.7 Examination and counting

6.8 Biomass determination

6.9 Cultivation of marine and brackish-water meiobenthos

6.10 Experimental techniques

References

Chapter 7: Deep-Sea Benthic Sampling

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Sampling from research vessels

7.3 Collecting animals from the deep-sea floor

7.4 Collecting sediment from the deep-sea floor

7.5 Imaging the deep-sea floor

7.6 Biogeochemistry of the deep-sea floor

7.7 In situ manipulative experiments

7.8 Future developments

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

References

Chapter 8: Measuring the Flow of Energy and Matter in Marine Benthic Animal Populations

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Energy and mass budgets of individual organisms

8.3 Methods for estimating the energy budget of an individual organism

8.4 From the individual to the population

8.5 Community-level measurements and modelling

References

Chapter 9: Phytobenthos Techniques

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Phytobenthic communities

9.3 Overview of methods for sampling phytobenthos

9.4 Transect line techniques

9.5 Other underwater surveying methods

9.6 Other surveying techniques

9.7 Conclusion

Appendix

References

Index

This edition first published 2013 © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Third edition published 2005 © 2005 by Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Second edition published 1984 First edition published 1971

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Methods for the study of marine benthos / edited by Anastasios Eleftheriou, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Crete, Greece and Department of Biology, University of Crete, Greece. - Fourth edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-67086-6 (hardback) - ISBN 978-1-118-54236-1 (emobi) - ISBN 978-1-118-54237-8 (epub) 1. Dredging (Biology) 2. Benthos-Research-Methodology. 3. Marine biology-Methodology. I. Eleftheriou, Anastasios, 1935- editor of compilation. QH91.57.D7M47 2013 577.7-dc23 2013001796

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Cover image: Underwater photograph on front cover reproduced by courtesy of Thanos Dailianis Cover design by Steve Thompson

Contributors

Ben Boorman, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Thomas Brey, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

Maura G.Chapman, Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Anastasios Eleftheriou, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Department of Biology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

Carlo Heip*, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, The Netherlands

Peter M.J. Herman, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Yerseke, The Netherlands

Alan J. Jamieson, Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, UK

Daniel O.B. Jones, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Hans Kautsky, Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Andrew J. Kenny, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory, Lowestoft, UK

Tom Moens, Department of Biology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

Derek C. Moore, Marine Scotland-Science, Scottish Government Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, UK

Colin Munro, Marine Bio-images, Colin Munro Photography, Exeter, UK

Heye Rumohr, Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, IfM-GEOMAR, Kiel, Germany

Chris J. Smith, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Paul J. Somerfield, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK

Ian Sotheran, Envision Mapping Ltd., Newcastle, UK

Antony J. Underwood, Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Jaap van der Meer, Department of Marine Ecology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, The Netherlands

Dick van Oevelen, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Yerseke, The Netherlands

Richard M.Warwick, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK

*Professor Carlo Heip of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, co-author of Chapter 8, sadly passed away just as this volume of the Handbook was in production. His contribution to marine science provided a great deal to our understanding of the marine environment. He will be greatly missed.

Dedication

This edition of the handbook is dedicated to the memory of Alasdair McIntyre, co-editor and contributor from its inception. A marine scientist whose work achieved worldwide recognition, Alasdair McIntyre left an enduring legacy to benthic research, for which we are and will remain grateful.

Preface to the Fourth Edition

Bearing in mind that the present edition of this handbook has a long and honourable history, a short account of its provenance may prove useful for the first-time reader. The International Biological Programme's global plan of coordinated research into ecosystem ecology (1964–1974) led to the publication of a series of handbooks designed to meet the needs of workers in a wide range of thematic areas and disciplines, one of which was the study of marine benthos. The first edition of the handbook targeted not only newcomers to the field but also the isolated worker who had to have ready access to the existing literature, as well as others in related disciplines who needed to carry out seabed sampling and those who initiated benthic studies.

It is now more than 40 years since the publication of that edition of the handbook (Holme & McIntyre, 1971), which was followed by two further editions (Holme & McIntyre, 1984; Eleftheriou & McIntyre, 2005). These later editions came about because major new approaches had emerged in response to ever-increasing demands for detailed information on bottom-living communities, as well as to the rapid advances of twenty-first-century technologies. The present edition has retained the same overall layout of previous editions, though there have been substantial updating and revisions as an outcome of the many changes that have occurred. This includes the rearrangement of some chapters that focus on the latest advances in marine technology and the reinstatement of a chapter on phytobenthos. The chapters on benthic deep-sea sampling, diving, imaging analysis, acoustic techniques used for the determination of the seabed characteristics and seabed sediment studies have been substantially rewritten. However, where a specific sampler or technique is essential to the work to be carried out, the information has remained much the same. During the rewriting of the handbook, care has been taken to keep to a minimum any significant overlapping in the descriptions of gear equipment and methods to be used for different purposes or different biota, by cross-referencing or by means of brief descriptions of commonly used gears or methods. Nevertheless, it was felt that such overlapping was sometimes inevitable, as for instance, workers searching for information concerning deep-sea sampling gears would not expect to find the relevant information available merely as a cross-reference to an entirely different chapter.

There have been unavoidable changes in authorship, as over its 40 years' continuum, new authors and co-authors have replaced those who have retired or who are no longer with us. Sadly, since the third edition, John Gage, expert on the deep-sea macrobenthos, senior author of Chapter 7, and Alasdair McIntyre, co-editor of the handbook since its first edition, have both passed on.

During the last 20 years, it has been recognised that the underlying mechanisms and interactions in ecosystem functioning are complex and can be understood only through multidisciplinary research networks. It is now accepted that the only way to understand the functioning of marine ecosystems is to formulate conceptual models based upon information concerning exchanges and interactions of the ecosystem components resulting from the collaboration between the subdisciplines of benthic ecology and other disciplines. These ecosystems have been shown to be a sensitive index of alterations and changes and, as such, demand long-term and effective monitoring.

The editor has throughout been fully aware of the important priorities concerning the identification and the linking of benthic patterns and processes and the development of suitable techniques for such linkages. While it is true that important inroads have been made in several sectors of the marine sciences, such as biogeochemical fluxes in the benthic boundary layer, the role of bacteria and meiobenthos in the benthic environment, the dynamics of recruitment, the linking of biodiversity to the ecosystem and carbon flow and its role in ecological stability, these are only a few of the priority areas in ecological research that require concomitant technological development.

Over the past 30 years, though there has been a steady evolution in methods and techniques in benthic investigations, which have seen significant advances in acoustic techniques, deep-sea exploration, diving and imaging techniques, methods and techniques in the study of macrobenthos have remained relatively static. This is an indication of a slowdown in technological progress in this field, or perhaps of a scarcity of ideas in technical and methodological issues or a result of the noticeable decline in large-scale and intensive benthic investigations, which were one of the features of the previous 30 years.

It cannot be concluded that the existing methodology concerning sampling an extremely complex environment, which we cannot always understand, has reached a stage of perfection. It should be stressed, therefore, that in an attempt to study marine benthos as comprehensively as possible, the many tools and methods described in the present edition of the handbook are complementary and should be used in parallel when and where appropriate.

Anastasios Eleftheriou, Heraklion, May 2012

Acknowledgements

For this fourth edition of the handbook, I remain grateful to Norman Holme and Alasdair McIntyre, the two previous editors who were in the first instance instrumental in pulling together all available knowledge on the subject, for the benefit of so many researchers who have subsequently worked on marine benthos.

I express my deep gratitude to all the authors who have contributed their know-how and expertise to this volume; working with them has been both a valuable and memorable experience.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to my wife, Margaret, without whose encouragement, support and forbearance this edition would not have appeared.

Chapter 1

Design and Analysis in Benthic Surveys in Environmental Sampling

Antony J. Underwood and Maura G. Chapman

Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Abstract: Measuring environmental impacts affecting benthic habitats requires detection of specific patterns of statistical interactions in data sampled before and after a potential impact, in the potentially impacted place and in control or reference locations. This is complex because ecological assemblages and populations vary at many spatial and temporal scales. Here, we introduce methods to ensure appropriate, independent replication of sampling at hierarchical scales in space and time. For statistical analysis, the logic of sampling design is critical. Determining precision of estimates and maximising power to detect impacts require care in the design, analysis and interpretation of the relevant data.

Keywords: benthic variance, environmental impact, environmental sampling, independence, precautionary principle, precision, replication, scale, sampling design, statistical interaction

1.1 Introduction

Quantified sampling, particularly to test applied and logically structured hypotheses about patterns and processes in marine habitats, is of increasing importance in underpinning the understanding of natural processes and to predict changes in response to environmental influences. There have been numerous advances in soul-searching (Peters, 1991), methods of analysis (Clarke, 1993; Anderson, 2001), commentaries on logic (Underwood, 1990; Resetarits & Bernardo, 1998; Lawton, 1999) and the need for better understanding of environmental impacts (Schmitt & Osenberg, 1996; Sparks, 2000). As a result, it is not possible in a general summary to review comprehensively even the new material, let alone everything relevant to the topic of improved benthic sampling. Suffice it to say that it is also essential to help with management and conservation of diversity, natural resources, systems and functions. Taking care in the acquisition of quantitative information should, therefore, be of paramount importance to all marine biologists and ecologists.

This chapter, therefore, presents a general overview of the issues concerned. It is not, nor could it be, a ‘cookbook’ of procedures that might work. Rather, it is an attempt to consider fundamental issues of replication, in space and time, the nature of variables examined, issues about designing comparative sampling programmes and so forth.

These topics are considered against a general background of the logical structure underpinning sampling methodology. The issue is a simple one – unless the aims and objectives of any study are clearly identified at the outset, the least damaging outcome will be wastage of time, money and resources. The worst outcome would be a complete lack of valid information on which to build understanding, predictive capacity and managerial/conservatory decision-making. Where aims are vague, designs of sampling are usually (if not always) inadequate, data do not match necessary assumptions, analyses are invalid and conclusions suspect.

In contrast, where aims and purposes are logical, coherent and explicit, it is usually possible to design a robust, effective, efficient and satisfactory sampling programme, which will allow aims to be achieved with minimal uncertainty. This seems such common sense that it does not need to be stated – but common sense indicates that the world is flat and that the sun rotates round the earth. Common sense is not enough.

For example, Hurlbert (1984) published a devastating critique of the failure of many published studies to demonstrate a valid basis for reaching conclusions, because the samples analysed were inappropriately or not at all replicated. His study was confined to the published studies, in refereed journals, subject to independent scrutiny. The overall situation, taking into account rejected papers, less intensively scrutinised journals and the flood of unreviewed grey literature, was clearly much worse. It is clear, from practical inspection of more recent literature and through reviewing manuscripts and applications for grants, that the situation (though now better) has not improved substantially (Hurlbert, 2004).

The starting point for studies needing quantitative sampling is that objectives should be clear, the variables to be measured should be defined and the sorts of patterns anticipated in the data should be clearly identified (as testable hypotheses). Wherever possible, as much information as is available should have been collected (and understood) about the operational processes operating, their spatial and temporal scales and about the biological interactions in assemblages and responses to environmental variables. Ideally, the constraints of money, time and equipment should also have all been taken into account. In other words, the professional components of scientific work should all be in place. Under these circumstances, it should be possible to design sampling to achieve minimal probabilities of error in analyses.

As a result, the focus in this chapter is on general issues and procedures to provide help and guidance with setting objectives, formulating hypotheses and designing sampling, particularly for measuring ecological impacts. This will serve as an aide-memoire for contemplating issues of logic when dealing with spatial and temporal variability in biological systems. It will also provide an introduction into the broader literature where many advances have been made in methodologies dealing with the problems of biological complexity in the real world.