FBSAD Reef Fish-HABITAT Quadrat Surveys at Hawaii Island (Big Island, Main Hawaiian Islands), 2008; and Midway Atoll (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands), 2008 (NODC Accession 0067519)
Description
Habitat quadrats were surveyed at 1 to ~5 m depths using transects conducted at a total four (4) sites: (1-2) at 2 longshore sites on the leeward coast (South Kohala district) of the Big Island (Hawaii Island, in the MHI) during spring-summer 2008; and (3-4) at 2 longshore sites on the back reef of Midway Atoll (NWHI) in summer 2008. Substratum cover and rugosity were characterized within multiple quadrats at each site. Two types of quadrats were surveyed: "Reference" ('REF') quadrats (whose positions were randomly selected) and "Target" ('TAR') quadrats (positions centered on sightings of recruit fishes); each quadrat was square and 1-m**2 area. In each quadrat, the benthic cover of each of fourteen (14) main substratum types were estimated, as was a "Rugosity Index" based on the ratio of conforming-to-straight line distances along both major axes of the quadrat.