Monitoring community composition Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) along the Patagonian coastline using Artificial Intelligence: a case study of the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Pole to Pole of the Americas (MBON Pole to Pole)

ENRIQUE MONTES; GREGORIO BIGATTI; GONZALO BRAVO; MARÍA GABRIELA PALOMO; MARÍA MARTHA MENDEZ; JUAN PABLO LIVORE; MARIA T. KAVANAUGH; FRANK MULLER-KARGER; CHRISTOPHER KELBLE

Conferencia; GEO BON Global Conference Monitoring Biodiversity for Action; 2023

Rocky intertidal zones of the Argentinian Patagonia are highly biodiverse habitats. They supportassemblages of invertebrates, macro-algae, fishes, and marine mammals that provide nutritional,cultural, economic, and recreational services to local communities. Our understanding of howcommunity composition in such rocky shores responds to episodic stress events, climate change,and pressures due to human activities like harvesting of commercially-important species islimited due to poor observational coverage. This has impaired effective management andconservation of these resources. The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Pole to Pole ofthe Americas conducted a workshop in March 27th - 31st, 2023, to train 26 park rangers fromnine Marine National Parks in southern Argentina on image-based biodiversity monitoringtechniques targeting sessile invertebrates and macro-algal assemblages. The goal was toimplement simple yet effective standard methods for estimating percent cover and biodiversitymetrics of Community Composition EBVs. Over 4,000 benthic images were collected andanalyzed with CoralNet’s convolutional deep neural network algorithm to compute percent coverindicators for mollusks, barnacles, macro-algal taxa, bare substrate, and species frequenciesacross 11 sites spanning latitudes from -49.26 to -42.24 °S. The objectives are to: 1) enableroutine and frequent monitoring of key local habitats; 2) define baselines for broad functionalgroups, species richness, and community composition at each site; 3) characterize oceanographicand atmospheric conditions shaping these assemblages; 4) detect and understand departures ofCommunity Composition EBVs from baseline levels within these National Marine Parks; and 5)inform decision-making of Park authorities and other relevant government agencies in Argentina.