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Highly dynamic biological seabed alterations revealed by side scan sonar tracking of Lanice conchilega beds offshore the island of Sylt (German Bight)

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Abstract

Hydroacoustic surveys are common tools for habitat investigation and monitoring that aid in the realisation of the aims of the EU Marine Directives. However, the creation of habitat maps is difficult, especially when benthic organisms densely populate the seafloor. This study assesses the sensitivity of entropy and homogeneity image texture parameters derived from backscatter strength data to benthic habitats dominated by the tubeworm Lanice conchilega. Side scan sonar backscatter surveys were carried out in 2010 and 2011 in the German Bight (southern North Sea) at two sites approx. 20 km offshore of the island of Sylt. Abiotic and biotic seabed facies, such as sorted bedforms, areas of fine to medium sand and L. conchilega beds with different tube densities, were identified and characterised based on manual expert analysis and image texture analysis. Ground truthing was performed by grab sampling and underwater video observations. Compared to the manual expert analysis, the k-means classification of image textures proves to be a semi-automated method to investigate small-scale differences in a biologically altered seabed from backscatter data. The texture parameters entropy and homogeneity appear linearly interrelated with tube density, the former positively and the latter negatively. Reinvestigation of one site after 1 year showed an extensive change in the distribution of the L. conchilega-altered seabed. Such marked annual fluctuations in L. conchilega tube cover demonstrate the need for dense time series and high spatial coverage to meaningfully monitor ecological patterns on the seafloor with acoustic backscatter methods in the study region and similar settings worldwide, particularly because the sand mason plays a pivotal role in promoting biodiversity. In this context, image texture analysis provides a cost-effective and reproducible method to track biologically altered seabeds from side scan sonar backscatter signatures.

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Acknowledgements

The data derive from the project AufMod-F (Establishment of modelling systems for the prediction of long-term morphodynamics in the German Bight), which was funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research, grant number 03KIS087. We thank the masters and crews of RV Alkor as well as H. Beese for technical support. Constructive assessments by six reviewers proved useful in improving an earlier version of this article.

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  1. State Agency for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas, Hamburger Chaussee 25, 24220, Flintbek, Germany

    C. Heinrich

  2. Institute of Geosciences - Sedimentology, Coastal and Continental Shelf Research, Kiel University, Otto-Hahn-Platz 1, 24118, Kiel, Germany

    C. Heinrich & K. Schwarzer

  3. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Seetrasse 15, 18119, Rostock, Germany

    P. Feldens

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Heinrich, C., Feldens, P. & Schwarzer, K. Highly dynamic biological seabed alterations revealed by side scan sonar tracking of Lanice conchilega beds offshore the island of Sylt (German Bight). Geo-Mar Lett 37, 289–303 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-016-0477-z

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