Research Publication No. 52

Preliminary Evaluation of an Acoustic Technique for Mapping Tropical Seagrass Habitats

W .J. Lee Long, L.J. McKenzie and C.A. Roder
Seagrass Ecology Group
Northern Fisheries Centre
Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries

A.J. Hundley
Offshore Scientific Pty Ltd

June 1998

COVER PAGE & VERSO [Adobe Acrobat Format 99.10KB]
TABLE OF CONTENTS [Adobe Acrobat Format 149.01KB]
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [Adobe Acrobat Format 87.50KB]
INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND [Adobe Acrobat Format 204.66KB]
- Surveying techniques used in tropical seagrass habitats..
- Acoustic techniques
- Objectives
METHODS [Adobe Acrobat Format 4984.15KB]
- Site details..
- Experimental design
- Acoustic surveying
  - Mapping seagrass habitat edges..
  - Seagrass biomass
  - Sediment type
- Dive-based Surveying
  - Mapping Seagrass Habitat Edges..
  - Seagrass Biomass..
  - Sediment Type..
- Comparison of methods
  - Mapping Seagrass Habitat Edges
  - Estimating Seagrass Biomass
  - Sediment type
RESULTS [Adobe Acrobat Format 11717.44KB]
- Mapping seagrass habitat edges
  - Fan beam mapping using a transducer on a “towfish”
  - 3. I .2. Fan beam mapping using a fixed transducer..
- Estimating seagrass biomass
  - Finescale (sites with 10 m radius)
  - Broadscale (regions > 1 hectare)
- Describing sediment type
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS [Adobe Acrobat Format 580.76KB]
- Mapping seagrass meadow edges
- Seagrass biomass
- Other seagrass mapping information..
- Sediment mapping
- Efficiencies of survey methods
REFERENCES [Adobe Acrobat Format 153.43KB]
APPENDICIES [Adobe Acrobat Format 262.53KB]