Repeatability of baited remote underwater video station (BRUVS) results within and between seasons

PLoS One. 2020 Dec 17;15(12):e0244154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244154. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) are increasingly being used to evaluate and monitor reef communities. Many BRUVS studies compare multiple sites sampled at single time points that may differ from the sampling time of another site. As BRUVS use grows in its application to provide data relevant to sustainable management, marine protected area success, and overall reef health, understanding repeatability of sampling results is vital. We examined the repeatability of BRUVS results for the elasmobranch community both within and between seasons and years, and explored environmental factors affecting abundances at two sites in Indonesia. On 956 BRUVS, 1139 elasmobranchs (69% rays, 31% sharks) were observed. We found consistent results in species composition and abundances within a season and across years. However, elasmobranch abundances were significantly higher in the wet season. The elasmobranch community was significantly different between the two sites sampled, one site being more coastal and easily accessed by fishermen. Our results demonstrate that while BRUVS are a reliable and repeatable method for surveying elasmobranchs, care must be taken in the timing of sampling between different regions to ensure that any differences observed are due to inherent differences amongst sampling areas as opposed to seasonal dissimilarities.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Coral Reefs*
  • Elasmobranchii / physiology*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Seasons*
  • Video Recording / methods
  • Video Recording / standards*

Grants and funding

This work was funded by Paul G. Allen Philanthropies and the Global FinPrint project (https://www.pgafamilyfoundation.org) awarded to CAS and MRH. Additional project support was provided by Operation Wallacea (https://www.opwall.com) and Wasage Divers (http://wasagedivers.com/en/home/) to CSS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. One of the funders (Wasage Divers) provided support in the form of salaries for authors M.K., but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of this author are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.