| Habitat structural complexity plays a key role in the dynamics and resilience of coral reef communities. The critical situation of coral reef ecosystems beseeches a rapid improvement of monitoring tools to assist in the implementation of efficient conservation measures. Today, new reef assessment technologies support researchers and managers to collect information safer, faster, and with greater accuracy. Among them, photogrammetry by Structure-from-Motion (SfM) creates three-dimensional models and reef zone maps from overlapping images to conduct quantitative surveys of benthic communities. This thesis addressed four objectives: 1) define underwater photogrammetry protocols to create 3D models of coral colonies and reefscapes, in order to conduct physical... |
