Title: Underwater Video as a Method for Detecting and Quantifying Rare Individuals
1Underwater Video as a Method for Detecting and
Quantifying Rare Individuals
- Applied to Zebra/Quagga Mussels (Dreissena spp.)
and Burrowing Mayflies (Hexagenia spp.) - in Lake Erie
2This presentation was funded by the Ohio Sea
Grant College ProgramProject No. R/ER-66-PD
- Kenneth A. Krieger, Heidelberg College
- Matthew A. Thomas, F.T. Stone Laboratory, The
Ohio State Univ. - Natalie J. Johnson, Heidelberg College
- Michael T. Bur, US Geological Survey
3Acknowledgements
- The Ohio Sea Grant College Program and Franz
Theodore Stone Laboratory - Ryan Allen Information Technology, Heidelberg
College - The Ohio Lake Erie Commission, Lake Erie
Protection Fund (Project SG 232-04)
4Project Hardware and Software
- Research Vessels R/V Erie Monitor (OSU),
R/V Bowfin (USGS) - Remotely Operated Vehicle Phantom XTL
- ROV monitor and video system Deep Ocean
Engineering OSD-379 - Analog video digitization and editing
Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 - This Presentation Microsoft PowerPoint
5Captain Al Duff and student Natalie Johnson about
to launch Stone Labs remotely operated vehicle
(ROV) from the stern of the R/V Gibraltar III,
summer 2003
6Ponar Grab for soft sediments In photo Don
Schloesser, USGS
7Introduction
- Grab samplers have historically been used to
sample soft lake sediments to estimate the
distribution and abundance of benthic
macroinvertebrates.
- When the macroinvertebrates of special interest,
such as burrowing mayflies, are rare, their
presence may not be detected by grab samplers
because they typically sample an area lt0.05 m2. - By surveying a much greater area, video imaging
promises to be much more effective at detecting
and quantifying rare individuals that provide
visible signs of their presence.
8Lake Erie
Study Area
95B
6K
6.35K
6.30K
6.265K
67K
BRD16D
7K
BRD16C
BRD16B
LV67
1CP
BRD15N
2CP
Lorain
Sandusky
Huron
Stations where sediment was sampled in 2003 and
2004 for burrowing mayflies and zebra/quagga
mussels.
10Major members of the benthic invertebrate
community of soft sediments in well-oxygenated
bottom waters of Lake Eries western and central
basins include
- Zebra and Quagga Mussels
- Burrowing Mayflies
- Midges
11Zebra Quagga MusselsDreissenidae Dreissena
polymorpha D. bugensis
Photos Dave Barton
12Hexagenia spp. burrowing mayflies
male
female
male adult
nymphs
13Chironomidae midges
14Dreissenid mussels (Dreissena bugensis and D.
polymorpha) reside at the sediment surface . . .
15Zebra/quagga mussels on the bottom of Lake Erie
Live dreissenids
16Video with a brown tint like this was
photographed using the ROV lights.
17Video with a green tint like this was
photographed using natural light reaching the
lake bottom.
18In this video of soft sediment on the bottom of
Lake Erie, note the slightly open shells of the
live dreissenid mussels as they are filtering
food from the lake water.
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20Unlike dreissenid mussels, the larvae of
burrowing mayflies (Hexagenia spp.) and midges
(fly Family Chironomidae) live within burrows in
soft sediment.
21Still shot
Hexagenia burrow holes
- Holes in top of grab sample w quarter for scale
View of sediment surface inside an Ekman grab.
Note the well-oxygenated brown sediment overlying
the gray reduced sediments.
22Grab samplers and video might be similarly
effective at quantifying the numbers, and perhaps
even the size distributions, of mussels and
burrowing mayfly nymphs where they are common,
such as seen in this video of dreissenids near
the east end of Middle Bass Island.
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24In the next video, note the clumps (druses) of
live dreissenid mussels, then many Hexagenia
burrow holes in the sediment near the Bass
Islands.
25(No Transcript)
26Video of mussels and burrows
27Hexagenia burrows are usually U-shaped and thus
have two holes, though some have three or more.
28- The following video gives a close-up look at a
mayfly burrow hole. Notice the high resolution
of the ROV camera. The horizontal distance
between the two red laser points is 6 cm.
29Burrow hole
30As one travels from the edge of the western basin
into the eastern basin, the abundance of
Hexagenia nymphs and dreissenid mussels declines
sharply.
- In the next video (poor quality), the ROV passes
over ridges of sand and valleys of silt and
shells, all devoid of live mussels and mayflies.
31Ridges and valleys
32- In this video, the ROV moves along a sand ridge
that forms part of a series of ripples in the
sediment at 46 feet (14 m) in the central basin.
33- Small holes may be the openings of midge tubes
rather than of Hexagenia burrows.
34On the next video, watch the red midge larva
retreat into its tube. Visibility is
relatively poor because of material resuspended
off the bottom.
midge
35Midge video
36Small bits of debris may appear to be midge or
mayfly burrow holes until viewed at close range
a potential drawback to the use of video for
surveying small individuals.
See this example.
37Video of specks
38Underwater video can also be useful for finding
other uncommon animals that are too sparsely
populated to be sampled adequately with a grab.
- Here are a couple of examples, both from Station
67K at a depth of 45 feet (14 m) in the central
basin.
39A snail and its trackBrown patches of diatoms
are visible here at a depth of 45 feet.
40Snail and track video
41A string of fish eggs
42Fish egg video
43The final photos show the method of selecting an
area of video image within which to quantify
burrow holes.To be accurate, the lasers must be
kept at the same position in the image, i.e.,
camera angle must be constant.
442
400 cm
6 cm
45Numerous Hexagenia burrow holes, generally two
per burrow (natural light)
46For more information on burrowing mayflies in
Lake Erie . . .
- Visit
- www.heidelberg.edu/wql/research-activities.html
For information zebra and quagga mussels and
other Great Lakes research covering many topics .
. .
Visit www.sg.ohio-state.edu