Assessment of coral reef communities in Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu of the Main Hawaiian Islands from 2010-03-08 to 2011-11-08 using the Line-point Intercept (LPI) method (NCEI Accession 0168913)

This data package contains coral reef community composition data gathered during Line-Point-Intercept (LPI) surveys around the islands of Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu of the main Hawaiian Islands from March 8, 2010 to November 8, 2011 as part of a joint project with the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) and the State of Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR). The line-point-intercept (LPI) method (Hill and Wilkinson 2004) is used to assess the percentage of cover for live corals and other benthic elements.

The surveys were conducted by a SCUBA diver swimming along two pre-selected 25-m transect lines, during which the benthic element falling directly beneath the transect line was recorded at 25- or 50-cm intervals for 100 or 50 total points/observations per transect, respectively. Benthic elements were assigned to one of ten benthic categories: live (scleractinian) corals, octocorals, dead corals, coralline algae, macroalgae, turf algae, cyanophyes, zoanthids, other sessile macro-invertebrates, and sand. Benthic organisms were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (corals, macroalgae, and zoanthids to genus or species). Turf algae included pavement, rock, rubble, and turf algae observations.