Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats

Tim Langlois; Claude Spencer; Brooke A. Gibbons; Kingsley J. Griffin; Kye Adams; Charlotte Aston; Neville Barrett; Ashlee Bastiaansen; Donna Beach; Ant Bernard; Todd Bond; Genevieve R. Carey; Jennifer E. Caselle; Katie Cieri; Gabrielle H. Cummins; Katherine Cure; Simon de Lestang; John Fitzhardinge; Anita Giraldo-Ospina; Gretchen Grammer; David R. Guilfoyle; Christopher Henderson; Sharyn Hickey; Jamie Hicks; Renae Hovey; Charlie Huveneers; Daniel Ierodiaconou; John Keesing; Nathan Knott; Jennifer L. Lavers; Steve Lindfield; James Lindholm; Stanley Mastrantonis; Kinsey Matthews; Matthew L. Navarro; Julian Partridge; Dominique Pelletier; Camilla V.H. Piggott; Rachel Przeslawski; Ben Radford; Matthew Rees; Ron (Doc) Reynolds; Fernanda A. Rolim; Adam Smith; Felix Spencer; Rick Starr; Samuel Thompson; Iszaac Webb; Wayne Webb; Sasha Whitmarsh; Joel Williams; Jacquomo Monk

doi:10.1111/2041-210X.70010

Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats

Tim Langlois, Claude Spencer, Brooke A. Gibbons, Kingsley J. Griffin, Kye Adams, Charlotte Aston, Neville Barrett, Ashlee Bastiaansen, Donna Beach, Ant Bernard, Todd Bond, Genevieve R. Carey, Jennifer E. Caselle, Katie Cieri, Gabrielle H. Cummins, Katherine Cure, Simon de Lestang, John Fitzhardinge, Anita Giraldo-Ospina, Gretchen GrammerDavid R. Guilfoyle, Christopher Henderson, Sharyn Hickey, Jamie Hicks, Renae Hovey, Charlie Huveneers, Daniel Ierodiaconou, John Keesing, Nathan Knott, Jennifer L. Lavers, Steve Lindfield, James Lindholm, Stanley Mastrantonis, Kinsey Matthews, Matthew L. Navarro, Julian Partridge, Dominique Pelletier, Camilla V.H. Piggott, Rachel Przeslawski, Ben Radford, Matthew Rees, Ron (Doc) Reynolds, Fernanda A. Rolim, Adam Smith, Felix Spencer, Rick Starr, Samuel Thompson, Iszaac Webb, Wayne Webb, Sasha Whitmarsh, Joel Williams, Jacquomo Monk

College of Science and Engineering

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Abstract

Most platforms for collecting images to characterise marine benthic habitats involve a downward or forward-facing field of view that is relatively constrained (~70°), covering a relatively small area of benthos (downward ~1 m², forward ~25 m²).

Here we propose the use of a four-camera platform having a wide combined field of view (~280°), covering a much greater area (up to 100 m²). We also present a stereo-camera configuration that has the added benefit of being able to accurately measure sample area and dimensions of benthic biota. The design proposed is robust and self-righting, facilitating rapid deployment and retrieval from a range of vessels, depths and environments.

We present an exemplar workflow to generate a habitat map (~100 km²) within a no-take National Park Zone within the South-west Corner Marine Park, Australia and demonstrate the benefit of increasing the field of view to estimate habitat heterogeneity.

The relatively broad sample unit of this wide-field drop camera is well suited to estimating coverage (e.g. of a seagrass bed) and habitat mapping. It is time-efficient in the field, enabling spatially balanced sampling designs to acquire ground-truthing data for medium- to large-scale habitat mapping projects. This platform is a practical tool to monitor change in marine environments and assess the environmental impact (e.g. sea bed alteration) of activities such as offshore energy or fishing gears.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1116-1125
Number of pages	10
Journal	Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Volume	16
Issue number	6
Early online date	25 Feb 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.70010
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

Keywords

benthic habitat
drop camera
environmental assessment
monitoring
population ecology
sampling
stereo-video
surveys

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/2041-210X.70010Licence: CC BY

Final published versionFinal published version, 3.05 MBLicence: CC BY

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Langlois, T., Spencer, C., Gibbons, B. A., Griffin, K. J., Adams, K., Aston, C., Barrett, N., Bastiaansen, A., Beach, D., Bernard, A., Bond, T., Carey, G. R., Caselle, J. E., Cieri, K., Cummins, G. H., Cure, K., de Lestang, S., Fitzhardinge, J., Giraldo-Ospina, A., ... Monk, J. (2025). Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 16(6), 1116-1125. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.70010

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title = "Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats",

abstract = "Most platforms for collecting images to characterise marine benthic habitats involve a downward or forward-facing field of view that is relatively constrained (~70°), covering a relatively small area of benthos (downward ~1 m2, forward ~25 m2). Here we propose the use of a four-camera platform having a wide combined field of view (~280°), covering a much greater area (up to 100 m2). We also present a stereo-camera configuration that has the added benefit of being able to accurately measure sample area and dimensions of benthic biota. The design proposed is robust and self-righting, facilitating rapid deployment and retrieval from a range of vessels, depths and environments. We present an exemplar workflow to generate a habitat map (~100 km2) within a no-take National Park Zone within the South-west Corner Marine Park, Australia and demonstrate the benefit of increasing the field of view to estimate habitat heterogeneity. The relatively broad sample unit of this wide-field drop camera is well suited to estimating coverage (e.g. of a seagrass bed) and habitat mapping. It is time-efficient in the field, enabling spatially balanced sampling designs to acquire ground-truthing data for medium- to large-scale habitat mapping projects. This platform is a practical tool to monitor change in marine environments and assess the environmental impact (e.g. sea bed alteration) of activities such as offshore energy or fishing gears.",

keywords = "benthic habitat, drop camera, environmental assessment, monitoring, population ecology, sampling, stereo-video, surveys",

author = "Tim Langlois and Claude Spencer and Gibbons, {Brooke A.} and Griffin, {Kingsley J.} and Kye Adams and Charlotte Aston and Neville Barrett and Ashlee Bastiaansen and Donna Beach and Ant Bernard and Todd Bond and Carey, {Genevieve R.} and Caselle, {Jennifer E.} and Katie Cieri and Cummins, {Gabrielle H.} and Katherine Cure and {de Lestang}, Simon and John Fitzhardinge and Anita Giraldo-Ospina and Gretchen Grammer and Guilfoyle, {David R.} and Christopher Henderson and Sharyn Hickey and Jamie Hicks and Renae Hovey and Charlie Huveneers and Daniel Ierodiaconou and John Keesing and Nathan Knott and Lavers, {Jennifer L.} and Steve Lindfield and James Lindholm and Stanley Mastrantonis and Kinsey Matthews and Navarro, {Matthew L.} and Julian Partridge and Dominique Pelletier and Piggott, {Camilla V.H.} and Rachel Przeslawski and Ben Radford and Matthew Rees and Reynolds, {Ron (Doc)} and Rolim, {Fernanda A.} and Adam Smith and Felix Spencer and Rick Starr and Samuel Thompson and Iszaac Webb and Wayne Webb and Sasha Whitmarsh and Joel Williams and Jacquomo Monk",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1111/2041-210X.70010",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

pages = "1116--1125",

journal = "Methods in Ecology and Evolution",

issn = "2041-210X",

publisher = "British Ecological Society",

number = "6",

}

Langlois, T, Spencer, C, Gibbons, BA, Griffin, KJ, Adams, K, Aston, C, Barrett, N, Bastiaansen, A, Beach, D, Bernard, A, Bond, T, Carey, GR, Caselle, JE, Cieri, K, Cummins, GH, Cure, K, de Lestang, S, Fitzhardinge, J, Giraldo-Ospina, A, Grammer, G, Guilfoyle, DR, Henderson, C, Hickey, S, Hicks, J, Hovey, R, Huveneers, C, Ierodiaconou, D, Keesing, J, Knott, N, Lavers, JL, Lindfield, S, Lindholm, J, Mastrantonis, S, Matthews, K, Navarro, ML, Partridge, J, Pelletier, D, Piggott, CVH, Przeslawski, R, Radford, B, Rees, M, Reynolds, R, Rolim, FA, Smith, A, Spencer, F, Starr, R, Thompson, S, Webb, I, Webb, W, Whitmarsh, S, Williams, J & Monk, J 2025, 'Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats', Methods in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 1116-1125. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.70010

TY - JOUR

T1 - Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats

AU - Langlois, Tim

AU - Spencer, Claude

AU - Gibbons, Brooke A.

AU - Griffin, Kingsley J.

AU - Adams, Kye

AU - Aston, Charlotte

AU - Barrett, Neville

AU - Bastiaansen, Ashlee

AU - Beach, Donna

AU - Bernard, Ant

AU - Bond, Todd

AU - Carey, Genevieve R.

AU - Caselle, Jennifer E.

AU - Cieri, Katie

AU - Cummins, Gabrielle H.

AU - Cure, Katherine

AU - de Lestang, Simon

AU - Fitzhardinge, John

AU - Giraldo-Ospina, Anita

AU - Grammer, Gretchen

AU - Guilfoyle, David R.

AU - Henderson, Christopher

AU - Hickey, Sharyn

AU - Hicks, Jamie

AU - Hovey, Renae

AU - Huveneers, Charlie

AU - Ierodiaconou, Daniel

AU - Keesing, John

AU - Knott, Nathan

AU - Lavers, Jennifer L.

AU - Lindfield, Steve

AU - Lindholm, James

AU - Mastrantonis, Stanley

AU - Matthews, Kinsey

AU - Navarro, Matthew L.

AU - Partridge, Julian

AU - Pelletier, Dominique

AU - Piggott, Camilla V.H.

AU - Przeslawski, Rachel

AU - Radford, Ben

AU - Rees, Matthew

AU - Reynolds, Ron (Doc)

AU - Rolim, Fernanda A.

AU - Smith, Adam

AU - Spencer, Felix

AU - Starr, Rick

AU - Thompson, Samuel

AU - Webb, Iszaac

AU - Webb, Wayne

AU - Whitmarsh, Sasha

AU - Williams, Joel

AU - Monk, Jacquomo

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - Most platforms for collecting images to characterise marine benthic habitats involve a downward or forward-facing field of view that is relatively constrained (~70°), covering a relatively small area of benthos (downward ~1 m2, forward ~25 m2). Here we propose the use of a four-camera platform having a wide combined field of view (~280°), covering a much greater area (up to 100 m2). We also present a stereo-camera configuration that has the added benefit of being able to accurately measure sample area and dimensions of benthic biota. The design proposed is robust and self-righting, facilitating rapid deployment and retrieval from a range of vessels, depths and environments. We present an exemplar workflow to generate a habitat map (~100 km2) within a no-take National Park Zone within the South-west Corner Marine Park, Australia and demonstrate the benefit of increasing the field of view to estimate habitat heterogeneity. The relatively broad sample unit of this wide-field drop camera is well suited to estimating coverage (e.g. of a seagrass bed) and habitat mapping. It is time-efficient in the field, enabling spatially balanced sampling designs to acquire ground-truthing data for medium- to large-scale habitat mapping projects. This platform is a practical tool to monitor change in marine environments and assess the environmental impact (e.g. sea bed alteration) of activities such as offshore energy or fishing gears.

AB - Most platforms for collecting images to characterise marine benthic habitats involve a downward or forward-facing field of view that is relatively constrained (~70°), covering a relatively small area of benthos (downward ~1 m2, forward ~25 m2). Here we propose the use of a four-camera platform having a wide combined field of view (~280°), covering a much greater area (up to 100 m2). We also present a stereo-camera configuration that has the added benefit of being able to accurately measure sample area and dimensions of benthic biota. The design proposed is robust and self-righting, facilitating rapid deployment and retrieval from a range of vessels, depths and environments. We present an exemplar workflow to generate a habitat map (~100 km2) within a no-take National Park Zone within the South-west Corner Marine Park, Australia and demonstrate the benefit of increasing the field of view to estimate habitat heterogeneity. The relatively broad sample unit of this wide-field drop camera is well suited to estimating coverage (e.g. of a seagrass bed) and habitat mapping. It is time-efficient in the field, enabling spatially balanced sampling designs to acquire ground-truthing data for medium- to large-scale habitat mapping projects. This platform is a practical tool to monitor change in marine environments and assess the environmental impact (e.g. sea bed alteration) of activities such as offshore energy or fishing gears.

KW - benthic habitat

KW - drop camera

KW - environmental assessment

KW - monitoring

KW - population ecology

KW - sampling

KW - stereo-video

KW - surveys

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U2 - 10.1111/2041-210X.70010

DO - 10.1111/2041-210X.70010

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85218675515

SN - 2041-210X

VL - 16

SP - 1116

EP - 1125

JO - Methods in Ecology and Evolution

JF - Methods in Ecology and Evolution

IS - 6

ER -

Benthic Observation Survey System (BOSS) for surveys of marine benthic habitats

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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