Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2020, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1): 85-93.doi: 10.11978/2019039CSTR: 32234.14.2019039

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Applicability and calibration methods of three traditional surface area measurement methods for different coral species — based on 3D scanning technology

LIANG Yuxian1,2,3,5,6, YU Xiaolei1,2,3,5,6, GUO Yajuan4, HUANG Hui1,2,3,6, ZHOU Weihua1,2,3,6(), YUAN Xiangcheng1,2,6()   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    3. Tropical Marine Biological Research Station in Hainan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
    4. Testing Center of Marine Environment, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    5. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    6. Hainan Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Sanya 572000, China
  • Received:2019-04-19 Revised:2019-06-19 Online:2020-01-20 Published:2020-01-09
  • Contact: Weihua ZHOU,Xiangcheng YUAN E-mail:whzhou@scsio.ac.cn;xcyuan@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA13020403);National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC0506301);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31370500)

Abstract:

The surface area of scleractinian corals is an important reference parameter required for various researchs of coral biology and coral reef ecology. However, due to its complex morphological structure, the accurate measurement of coral surface area remains difficult. The diversity of measurement methods leads to the unreachable direct comparison of important indicators between different coral species. Thus, it is necessary to make a systematic comparison of different surface area measurement methods in different coral species. Regarding coral surface area measured by 3D scanning technique as standard, this study investigated the accuracy of three traditional measurement methods (wax coating, aluminium foil and simple geometry), discussed the applicability of different methods for corals in different morphology, and calibrated the accuracy of traditional measurement methods by simple regression analysis of two scleractinian corals Porites pukoensis (massive) and Pocillopora damicornis (branching). Results showed that the accuracy of simple geometry method was the highest (72.71% and 94.52%), followed by that of wax coating method (68.86% and 83.08%), and the accuracy of aluminium foil method is the lowest (65.27% and 58.07%) for P. pukoensis and P. damicornis, respectively. A strong correlation between 3D scanning method and each of the three traditional measurement methods (r2>0.95) was revealed by simple regression analysis, except for the surface area of P. pukoensis measured by the aluminium foil method (r2=0.762). Overall, to improve the accuracy of traditional coral surface area measurement methods, regression equations constructed by simple regression analysis can be used for calibration.

Key words: scleractinian coral, surface area measurement method, 3D scanning technique, simple regression analysis

CLC Number: 

  • P735