Understand how benthic composition influence fish community structure and invertebrate community composition
Our Research
The Dauin Municipality Long-Term Reef Monitoring Project has been designed
with the purpose of tracking fine-scale changes in the overall reef community
over time. More specifically, the project aims are to:
1.
2.
Document the effect of disturbances, both natural and anthropogenic, to provide awareness of potential reef threats.
3.
Document the effects of temperature, pH and current on the seasonal and annual variability of coral and fish populations
Our Study Sites
The Philippines
Dauin Inshore Reef
Apo Island
Interested in joining our research team?
Our Research Techniques
Obtaining High Quality Data for Conservation Management
Diver Operated Stereo Video System
The Institute for Marine Research uses Diver Operated Stereo Video Systems for fish density, fish 3D distribution mapping and fish size measurements. This innovative technology allows our Researchers to not only record fish species with both precision and accuracy than the traditional Underwater Visual Census (UVC) techniques, but efficiently quantifying the abundance and size of reef fish.
3-Dimensional (3D) Reef Modelling
On tropical coral reefs, structural complexity has been shown to be a major driver of productivity, biodiversity, and overall functionality of reef ecosystems. To understand more precisely the nature between structural complexity and reef health, we use 3-Dimensional (3D) Modelling as a tool to quantify topography, rugosity and other structural characteristics that play an important role in the ecology of coral reef communities. This 3D reconstruction of reef structure and complexity becomes integrated with other physiological and ecological parameters to improve monitoring of the health and function of coral reef ecosystems in Philippines, whilst providing a visual view of complexity change to IMRs partnering coastal managers.
Impacts & Ocean Monitoring Sensors
The Institute for Marine Research deploys data loggers, and conducts impact surveys to provide a more detailed picture of the causes and relative scale of coral mortality and ecosystem change. The Institute for Marine Research uses fine-scale research methodology to assess the following impacts: