Rocky reef biodiversity survey: Punta Pardelas, Argentina

Gonzalo Bravo1, Juan Pablo Livore1, Nicolás Battini1, Marianela Gastaldi2, Daniel Lauretta3, Martín Brogger1, María Paula Raffo4, Cristian Lagger5, Gregorio Bigatti1, Gonzalo Bravo6

1 Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR), CCT CONICET- CENPAT, Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina; 2 Escuela Superior de Ciencias Marinas - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Martín 224, 8520, San Antonio Oeste, Argentina; 3 Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Av.Angel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 4 Centro Para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR)- CCT CONICET- CENPAT, Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina; 5 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)- Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA)- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Laboratorio de Ecología Marina, Córdoba, Argentina; 6 Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR), CCT CONICET- CENPAT-, Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120ACD, , Argentina

Corresponding author(s): Gonzalo Bravo (gonzalobravoargentina@gmail.com)Juan Pablo Livore (livore@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar)Nicolás Battini (battini@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar)Marianela Gastaldi (marianelagastaldi@gmail.com)Daniel Lauretta (dlauretta@gmail.com)Martín Brogger (brogger@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar)María Paula Raffo (raffo@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar)Cristian Lagger (cristianlagger@conicet.gov.ar)Gregorio Bigatti (gbigatti@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar), Gonzalo Bravo (gbravo@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Bravo G, Livore J P, Battini N, Gastaldi M, Lauretta D, Brogger M, Raffo M P, Lagger C, Bigatti G (2021): Rocky reef biodiversity survey: Punta Pardelas, Argentina. v1.10. ArOBIS Centro Nacional Patagónico. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://arobis.cenpat-conicet.gob.ar:8081/resource?r=arrs&v=1.10

Abstract

Temperate rocky reefs in the SW Atlantic are productive areas that support highly diverse communities of invertebrates, algae and fishes. Rocky outcrops form complex structures which offer a diversity of microhabitats that lead to a great variety of co-existing species. Subtidal biodiversity within the Natural Protected Area Península Valdés is largely unexplored and studies are mainly limited to fish. A total of 560 high definition photoquadrats from 7 rocky reefs (1-25 m depth) at Punta Pardelas were obtained during March 2019. In total, 4491 occurrences were recorded and identified to phyla (n=2), superclasses (n=1), classes (n=5), subclasses (n=2), orders (n=2), families (n=1), subfamilies (n=1), genera (n=10) and species (n=43) levels. This dataset was developed to provide a baseline inventory of Punta Pardelas inside the Natural Protected Area, that was only partially reported more than 50 years ago. Such data represent the first step towards monitoring these less-accessible ecosystems.

Keywords: Sampling event, Rocky reef, Southern Ocean, Photoquadrats, Biodiversity, Scientific diving, Samplingevent

Project details

Project title: “Biodiversidad bentónica de arrecifes rocosos de la costa patagónica: estado actual y predicciones ante futuros escenarios de cambio climático” [Biodiversity of epi-benthic communities along template rocky reefs in the Patagonian Atlantic Coast: current state and modelling under a climate change scenario]
Personnel: Gonzalo Bravo, Juan Pablo Livore, Gregorio Bigatti, Nicolás Battini, Marianela Gastaldi, Daniel Lauretta, Martín Brogger, María Paula Raffo, Cristian Lagger
Funding: Most part of the financial support came from PICT-2018-0969 (ANPCyT- ARGENTINA). Minor funding was provided by a Rapid Ocean Conservation grant (ROC) from Waitt Foundation (https://www.waittfoundation.org/), Tides Foundation Grant Award TF2002-089196 and Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas (ICB) with the Australis award granted to Gonzalo Bravo. All the authors are members of national institutions in Argentina.
Study area descriptions/descriptor: Seven rocky reefs grouped in an area of about 11 km were sampled off the coast of Punta Pardelas Bay inside Nuevo Gulf, Atlantic Patagonia Fig. 1. The study area is part of the Natural Protected Area Península Valdés and this work was performed with the corresponding permit provided by the Subsecretaría de Conservación yÁreas Protegidas (DISPOSICIÓN N°076-SsCyAP/18) from Chubut Government. This latitude is considered as an ecotone of two marine biogeographic provinces (Argentinian and Magellanic), with both warm temperate and cold temperate species represented (Balech and Ehrlich 2008). The tide regime is semidiurnal with mean amplitudes of 3.8 m and spring tides of up to 5.7 m. Water temperature varies from 9 to 18°C. The first and only study of the subtidal benthic community at Punta Pardelas was performed by Olivier et al. (1966), but only down to 10 m depth. Our dataset presents species occurrences and species richness taken by underwater photoquadrats. Sessile species were recorded as percentage cover and mobile fauna as density. It is likely that somo taxa, particularly mobile fauna, may present an avoidance behavior and thus was not recorder. Hence, biodiversity estimation is likely underestimated through this methodology. However, we are confident that for bethic reef biodiversity surveys it is a cost-effective method and encourage its use.
Design description: Ledge borders were followed as underwater transects in all rocky
reefs. Photoquadrats (25 x 25 cm) spaced at 2-5 m intervals were taken by scuba diving. Preliminary tests showed that a focal length of 50 cm, which in turn determined quadrat size, was the best to reduce the negative influence of water turbidity on the resolution of the image. The presence of cavities with a height of 1.5 to 3.0 m below the rocky ledges provided enough space to sample four different surface orientations(horizontal, vertical, overhang and cave floor). Rocky reefs were sampled at three different depths ranges 1-7 m: “shallow rocky reefs” (n= 2 reefs), 8-15 m: “mid depth rocky reefs”(n= 3 reefs) and 16-25 m: “deep rocky reefs” (n= 2 reefs). Voucher samples were collected
to confirm photo identification when necessary.

Data published through GBIF: http://arobis.cenpat-conicet.gob.ar:8081/resource?r=arrs

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: This database described here is based on photoquadrat taxonomic identification and is supported by local taxonomists. The goal of this study was to update the benthic community data from Punta Pardelas in Nuevo Gulf, Atlantic Patagonia. The taxonomic coverage Fig. 3 includes twelve phyla: Porifera (17%), Mollusca (17%), Rhodophyta (17%), Chordata (14%), Cnidaria (12%), Ochrophyta (8%), Echinodermata (6%), Chlorophyta (4%), Annelida (2%), Arthropoda (1%), Brachiopoda (<1%) and Phatyhelminthes (<1%). The class Calcarea (Porifera), the genus Halcurias (Cnidaria: Actiniaria) and the species Darwinella rosacea (Porifera) represented first records for Nuevo Gulf and were identified by extractive samples by taxonomists.
Taxonomic ranks
Phylum: Bryozoa
Superclass: Corallinophycidae
Class: Hydrozoa, Demospongiae, Polychaeta, Phaeophyceae, Calcarea
Subclass: Rhodymeniophycidae, Heterobranchia
Order: Aplousobranchia, Ralfsiales
Family: Terebellidae
Subfamily: Lithophaginae
Genus: Aplidium, Halcurias, Myxicola, Clathria, Cliona, Codium, Ulva, Patagonotothen, Trapania, Calliostoma
Species: Ascidiella aspersa, Aulacomya atra, Anthothoe chilensis, Austromegabalanus psittacus, Asterocarpa humilis, Corella eumyota, Aequipecten tehuelchus, Magellania venosa, Corynactis carnea, Ciona intestinalis, Ciona robusta, Diplosoma listerianum, Lissoclinum fragile, Metridium senile, Paramolgula gregaria, Parabunodactis imperfecta, Darwinella rosacea, Tripalea clavaria, Corallina officinalis, Colpomenia sinuosa, Dictyota dichotoma, Lomentaria clavellosa, Undaria pinnatifida, Pseudechinus magellanicus, Tegula patagonica, Leucippa pentagona, Arbacia dufresnii, Ribeiroclinus eigenmanni, Helcogrammoides cunninghami, Pachycheles chubutensis, Doris fontainii, Diaulula punctuolata, Allostichaster capensis, Polycera marplatensis, Fissurellidea patagonica, Fissurella radiosa tixierae, Phrikoceros mopsus, Cosmasterias lurida, Sebastes oculatus, Cycethra verrucosa, Pleurobranchaea maculata, Ophioplocus januarii, Odontaster penicillatus

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Nuevo Gulf in Chubut Province, Argentina. We selected 7 rocky reefs grouped in an area of almost 11 km2 in Punta Pardelas.
Coordinates: 42°39'7.2''S and 42°37'1.2''S Latitude; 64°17'2.4''W and 64°13'30''W Longitude 

Temporal coverage: March 11, 2019 - March 26, 2019

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	GPS and underwater camera time were synchronized. This was done by aligning the
camera clock with the GPS clock before each dive. The GPS was set on track mode
recording one waypoint every 3 seconds.
- . 	The portable GPS (Garmin Etrex 10) was placed in a dry bag on top of a Rescue Can buoy connected to the diver by a monofilament line using a diving reel. Divers maintained the monofilament line as tight as possible to minimize angles between the buoy and the diver.
- . 	Photoquadrat sampling.
- . 	Photos were georeferenced using the function “Auto-tag photos” in Adobe Lightroom Classic version: 9.1.
- . 	Percentage cover of algae and sessile invertebrates was calculated using a 100 point grid overlaid on each photo, using CoralNet software (Beijbom et al., 2015). On the same image all the mobile fauna was counted to calculate density. All the photoquadrats are stored in a public CoralNet source: https://coralnet.ucsd.edu/source/1933/
Study extent description: This dataset presents species occurrences and species richness of underwater photoquadrats over rocky reefs in Punta Pardelas, Nuevo Gulf. Sessile species
were recorded as percentage cover and mobile fauna as density. This is the first study of benthic communities in Punta Pardelas at three different depth levels: shallow rocky reefs(1-7 m), mid depth rocky reefs (8-15 m) and deep rocky reefs (16-25 m).
Sampling description: Divers were equipped with a Canon 100D camera and two Ikelite DS-161 strobes mounted on a stainless-steel structure with a 0.0625 m2 quadrat (0.25 x 0.25 m). The camera had a 18-55 mm Canon lens and all the images were taken with the 18 mm setting, autofocus, ISO 400, Exposure 1/200 s at f/11 and flashes set on automatic TTL. A dive computer (Oceanic Geo2) was mounted on one side of the quadrat to register the depth and temperature of each photoquadrat. Divers carried a monofilament line that towed a surface buoy with a GPS loading a waypoint every 3 seconds (Bravo et al. 2021).
Quality control description: Species names were assigned when the photograph allowed us to observed the organism's characteristics. When identification was inconclusive, only family
or genus names were assigned and, in the case of filamentous algae or sponges,
functional groups were assigned. Most of the species were identified by the project codirector Gonzalo Bravo which has extensive knowledge and observations of the local species in the field (see: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversidad-submarina-de-lacosta-
argentina). In some cases, extractive samples were recollected for taxonomic
confirmation or description of species not recorded in the area. The taxonomists that contributed to the identification of photoquadrats were Paula Raffo (Algae), Marianela Gastaldi (Porifera), Cristian Lagger (Tunicates), Martín Brogger (Echinodermata), Gregorio Bigatti (Mollusca) and Daniel Lauretta (Cnidaria: Actiniaria, Coralliorpharia). The taxonomic validity of the names was verified using the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS; www.marinespecies.org). The geo-referencing of photoquadrats was recorded using a Garmin eTrex 10 GPS (WGS84 Datum) with a 5 m accuracy.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Rocky reef biodiversity survey: Punta Pardelas, Argentina
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://arobis.cenpat-conicet.gob.ar:8081/archive.do?r=arrs
Publication date of data: 2021-12-03
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2020-10-30
Hierarchy level: Dataset

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