![]() Using nine terrain metrics, the effects of terrain on fish assemblages in a diversity of marine seascapes were selected to describe variation in the: relief (average depth), morphology (aspect: northness and eastness plan curvature and profile curvature), complexity (rugosity and slope) and composition (backscatter: E1 roughness and E2 hardness) of seafloor terrain. Sonar data was processed using software and surface metrics were applied to quantify structural variation in seafloor terrain. To investigate whether, or how, changes to seafloor terrain from dredging impacts fish assemblages, high-resolution (≤ 1 m−1) digital bathymetric models were created for each estuary using depth soundings from a multi-beam acoustic sounder. Within the study, ten baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) were evenly spaced upstream of the estuary mouth to capture video surveillance in order to sample diverse marine fish. Estuaries are also hot spots for human utility values, providing recreation activities and opportunities for coastal development. Often consisting of components such as, mangroves, saltmarshes, sandbars, seagrasses, snags, rock and channels. Estuaries are extremely diverse ecosystems that offer habitat for many species and are structurally complex. A 2022 study looked at the potential ecological impacts of dredging for estuarine and coastal fish species using seascapes in Eastern Australia as a model.
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