CRED REA Line Point Intercept Surveys of Benthic Parameter Assessments at Guguan Island, Marianas Archipelago in 2009
Description
To support a long-term NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) for sustainable management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems, from 15 April - 7 May 2009, line point intercept (LPI) surveys of benthic parameter assessments were conducted, as a part of Rapid Ecological Assessments (REA), during the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) Cruise HI0903 in the Marianas Archipelago at biennial intervals by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) at the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC). During the cruise, 6 REA sites were surveyed at Guguan Island in the Marianas Archipelago. At the specific REA sites, coral biologists along with algal biologists, marine invertebrate zoologist, and fish biologists entered the water and conducted a fine-scale (~300 m2) and high degree of taxonomic resolution REA survey to assess and monitor species composition, abundance, percent cover, size distribution, diversity, and general health of fish, corals, macro-invertebrates, and algae in shallow-water (< 35 m) habitats. As a part of REA surveys, the line point intercept surveys were used to quantitatively assess average percent live coral cover and other benthic substrates at REA sites. The surveys were conducted along two consecutively-placed 25m transect lines by a coral biologist. All benthic elements falling directly underneath the transect line at 20-cm to 50-cm intervals were recorded as one of nine benthic categories: live coral, dead coral, carbonate pavement, encrusting coralline algae, macroalgae, coral rubble, sand, rock, and other benthic sessile invertebrates. All living benthic elements (e.g., coral, algae, and other invertebrates) were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. These data provide the basis for computing quantitative estimates of percent live coral cover, as well as percent cover of the different benthic constituents.
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Tags
- guguan island
- coral reef ecosystem
- western pacific ocean
- reef monitoring and assessment
- marine ecosystem
- corals
- guguan island (17n145e0001)
- northern mariana islands
- biosphere
- oceans
- benthic cover
- cnmi
- pacific reef assessment and monitoring program (pacific ramp): biennial monitoring for the u.s. paci
- numeric data sets
- biology
- earth science
- hi0903
- marianas archipelago
- guguan
- rapid ecological assessments (rea)
- coral reef ecology
- ocean basin
- reef assessment and monitoring program (ramp)
- coastal processes
- 1221
- zoology
- coral reefs
- coris_metadata
- pacific ocean
- rapid assessment studies
- country/territory