CONDUCTING REEF FISH SURVEYS THROUGH A NEW LENS: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMUNITY-BASED MONITORING METHODS.
| dc.contributor.advisor | Burns, John HR | |
| dc.contributor.author | Taylor, Zach Thomas | |
| dc.contributor.department | Tropical Conservation Biology & Environmental Science | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-01-25T19:41:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-01-25T19:41:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-12 | |
| dc.description.degree | M.S. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10790/42735 | |
| dc.subject | Ecology | |
| dc.subject | Conservation biology | |
| dc.title | CONDUCTING REEF FISH SURVEYS THROUGH A NEW LENS: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMUNITY-BASED MONITORING METHODS. | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dcterms.abstract | Coral reef fishes in Hawai‘i are economic pillars both as subsistence and commercial food sources, and for ecotourism, with greater than 70% of the value being associated with subsistence activities. Current monitoring efforts are heavily focused on using a single method of open circuit (OC) SCUBA diving by certified scientific divers. These methods have been scrutinized in recent years for potential biases, and perhaps more importantly, for excluding many fishers in the community from collecting data that is useful for the management of nearshore fisheries. This thesis describes a comprehensive methods analysis of the standard OC SCUBA-based coral reef fish surveys in comparison to innovative approaches including permanent live-streaming remote underwater video (RUV) system, snorkeling, and freediving. This approach was designed to address the need for more accurate methodology that can be incorporated into inclusive community survey efforts to enhance reef monitoring. We utilized advanced statistical approaches to directly compare species richness, size estimation, and abundance among these different methodologies. Results from principal component analysis (PCA) and linear mixed effects models (LMM) showed that RUV, snorkeling, and freediving offer robust alternatives to OC SCUBA-based surveys and provide accurate data collection without the necessity of SCUBA. The novel live-streaming RUV approach displayed promising capabilities for enabling in-depth insights into ecological processes on coral reefs and continuous data acquisition. Snorkeling and freediving showcased their suitability in sizing and counting fish in shallow reef environments, and the potential for encouraging community engagement and local knowledge integration. This study highlights the transformative potential of innovative methods, encouraging collaboration between researchers and communities for effective coral reef conservation through advancement of coral reef fish monitoring efforts. | |
| dcterms.extent | 44 pages | |
| dcterms.language | en | |
| dcterms.publisher | University of Hawaii at Hilo | |
| dcterms.rights | All UHH dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner. | |
| dcterms.type | Text | |
| local.identifier.alturi | http://dissertations.umi.com/hilo.hawaii:10245 |
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