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Description:
Title:
CoralCam: A flexible, low-cost ecological monitoring platform
Author(s):
Greene, Austin
Forsman, Zac
Toonen, Robert J.
Donahue, Megan J.
Dates of Publication:
2020
Abstract:
The study and conservation of biological communities, such as coral reefs, frequently requires repeated surveys to measure the growth of organisms or the occurrence of ecological processes, such as recruitment, predation, competition, or mortality. In the case of coral reefs, processes influencing coral community structure occur on time scales of days (recruitment, predation), months (seasonal environmental stress), or years (competition for space). In both marine and terrestrial systems, observing the ecology of remote locations at fine temporal scales is made difficult by the high cost or complexity of resurveying the same location at high frequency. These restrictions have produced limited understanding of in-situ ecological processes which occur at fine temporal scales and influence community structure but are easily missed during infrequent surveys. We present a low-cost method for the conversion of consumer cameras into programmable time-lapse platforms, allowing scheduled daily video or photo capture in remote locations for extended time periods. Results of a 1-month deployment with twice-daily photo capture are presented. Total cost to construct and deploy CoralCam in-situ (up to 45 m) is approximately $80 USD, providing a low-cost platform for fine scale data collection where these data are not otherwise logistically or financially possible.
Keywords:
Biomedical Engineering
Civil and Structural Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Instrumentation
Mechanical Engineering
Local Corporate Name:
CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System)
Format:
PDF
Type of Resource:
Journal Article
Note:
The study and conservation of biological communities, such as coral reefs, frequently requires repeated surveys to measure the growth of organisms or the occurrence of ecological processes, such as recruitment, predation, competition, or mortality. In the case of coral reefs, processes influencing coral community structure occur on time scales of days (recruitment, predation), months (seasonal environmental stress), or years (competition for space). In both marine and terrestrial systems, observing the ecology of remote locations at fine temporal scales is made difficult by the high cost or complexity of resurveying the same location at high frequency. These restrictions have produced limited understanding of in-situ ecological processes which occur at fine temporal scales and influence community structure but are easily missed during infrequent surveys. We present a low-cost method for the conversion of consumer cameras into programmable time-lapse platforms, allowing scheduled daily video or photo capture in remote locations for extended time periods. Results of a 1-month deployment with twice-daily photo capture are presented. Total cost to construct and deploy CoralCam in-situ (up to 45 m) is approximately $80 USD, providing a low-cost platform for fine scale data collection where these data are not otherwise logistically or financially possible.
Grant no. NA18NOS4820110
URL:
DOI:
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