Estimation of Submergent Plant Bed Biovolume using Acoustic Range Information

Abstract

Acoustic measurements of the distance between the water surface, top of the aquatic plants, and bottom of the water column were made using chart recording echosounders. The vertical cross sectional area (m2), height (m), biovolume (m3), of aquatic plant beds and variances were computed for three surveys of Devils Lake, Oregon, in May, July, and September, 1986 when coefficients of variation for the plant bed biovolume estimates were 0.18, 0.05, and 0.06, respectively (n = 14). Coefficients of variation for plant biomass estimates (g/m2) computed from SCUBA quadrat samples collected concurrently with the acoustic surveys, were 0.98 (n = 48), 0.81 (n = 90), and 1.05 (n = 90), respectively. The higher precision of the biovolume estimates allow for a 5- to 18-fold greater capability to detect a change in the mean. The lower costs of the biovolume estimates allow for a 10- to 33-fold greater precision-for-cost. The plant bed biovolume variable contains ecologically different information than the biomass variable in that it provides a direct estimate of the amount of aquatic habitat in a lake that is influenced by plants; it should prove useful for evaluating plant control practices and possibly for studying plant-fish interactions.