Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges

Cliona is a genus of endolithic sponge that is steadily gaining dominance in areas such as the Caribbean Sea due to anthropogenically-caused ecosystem changes. These sponges erode and remove reef volume, reducing the carbonate budgets, structural complexity and hence ecological function of cor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Koh, Lucas David
Other Authors: Kyle Morgan
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174810
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
id sg-ntu-dr.10356-174810
record_format dspace
spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1748102024-04-15T15:31:54Z Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges Koh, Lucas David Kyle Morgan Asian School of the Environment kmorgan@ntu.edu.sg Earth and Environmental Sciences Cliona Cliona caribbaea Endolithic sponge Carbonate budget Coral reef erosion Structure-from-motion Photogrammetry Mesoamerican reef Caribbean Sea Cliona is a genus of endolithic sponge that is steadily gaining dominance in areas such as the Caribbean Sea due to anthropogenically-caused ecosystem changes. These sponges erode and remove reef volume, reducing the carbonate budgets, structural complexity and hence ecological function of coral reefs. However, the behaviour of many Cliona species is still greatly understudied. Their erosion and lateral colonization rates have not been extensively studied in-situ, partly due to the practical difficulties in quantifying small-scale erosion over an extended time period. This study develops and introduces a more practical and comprehensive method to conduct erosion/colonization rate studies of endolithic sponges, using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry and virtual 3D-model analysis. This method was trialled on 5 Cliona caribbaea colonies in the Mexican Caribbean, south of the Puerto Morelos National Reef Park. The method required lesser fieldwork time and was capable of acquiring a much more comprehensive dataset to be analysed. In this study, Cliona caribbaea was found to erode almost exclusively at its outer perimeters, on average contributing to 965cm3/yr of volume loss within the visible sponge area, but remarkably further eroding an additional 1595cm3/yr of substrate outside the visible sponge area. Substrate rugosity was also found to be a key factor influencing lateral colonization rates and erosion depths between and within individual sponges. This paper provides detailed workflows and video tutorials which research labs and citizen science initiatives worldwide can easily use to contribute to the limited knowledge and data on endolithic sponges and their erosional impacts on coral reefs. Bachelor's degree 2024-04-12T00:32:39Z 2024-04-12T00:32:39Z 2024 Final Year Project (FYP) Koh, L. D. (2024). Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174810 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174810 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Earth and Environmental Sciences
Cliona
Cliona caribbaea
Endolithic sponge
Carbonate budget
Coral reef erosion
Structure-from-motion
Photogrammetry
Mesoamerican reef
Caribbean Sea
spellingShingle Earth and Environmental Sciences
Cliona
Cliona caribbaea
Endolithic sponge
Carbonate budget
Coral reef erosion
Structure-from-motion
Photogrammetry
Mesoamerican reef
Caribbean Sea
Koh, Lucas David
Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
description Cliona is a genus of endolithic sponge that is steadily gaining dominance in areas such as the Caribbean Sea due to anthropogenically-caused ecosystem changes. These sponges erode and remove reef volume, reducing the carbonate budgets, structural complexity and hence ecological function of coral reefs. However, the behaviour of many Cliona species is still greatly understudied. Their erosion and lateral colonization rates have not been extensively studied in-situ, partly due to the practical difficulties in quantifying small-scale erosion over an extended time period. This study develops and introduces a more practical and comprehensive method to conduct erosion/colonization rate studies of endolithic sponges, using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry and virtual 3D-model analysis. This method was trialled on 5 Cliona caribbaea colonies in the Mexican Caribbean, south of the Puerto Morelos National Reef Park. The method required lesser fieldwork time and was capable of acquiring a much more comprehensive dataset to be analysed. In this study, Cliona caribbaea was found to erode almost exclusively at its outer perimeters, on average contributing to 965cm3/yr of volume loss within the visible sponge area, but remarkably further eroding an additional 1595cm3/yr of substrate outside the visible sponge area. Substrate rugosity was also found to be a key factor influencing lateral colonization rates and erosion depths between and within individual sponges. This paper provides detailed workflows and video tutorials which research labs and citizen science initiatives worldwide can easily use to contribute to the limited knowledge and data on endolithic sponges and their erosional impacts on coral reefs.
author2 Kyle Morgan
author_facet Kyle Morgan
Koh, Lucas David
format Final Year Project
author Koh, Lucas David
author_sort Koh, Lucas David
title Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
title_short Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
title_full Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
title_fullStr Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
title_full_unstemmed Using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
title_sort using photogrammetry to investigate coral reef erosion by clionid sea sponges
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2024
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174810
_version_ 1814047431219740672