Guam Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring Program Benthic Cover Derived from Analysis of Benthic Images since 2010

The Government of Guam's Comprehensive Long-term Monitoring at Permanent Sites in Guam project, also known as the Guam Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring Program (GLTMP), is a NOAA-funded project currently coordinated through the University of Guam Marine Laboratory. The program involves the regular, intensive collection of data for a suite of coral reef ecosystem health parameters at high priority reef areas (HPRAs) around Guam, as well as critical support for coral bleaching response and other activities carried out by the multi-partner Guam Coral Reef Response Team. The program currently utilizes a split-panel sampling approach, whereby a mix of permanent and non-permanent sampling stations (one sampling station = one transect) are visited within each HPRA. The HPRAs were selected by an advisory body comprised of reef managers, researchers, and technicians; these reef areas were not intended to be representative of Guam's reefs more broadly. The locations of the sampling stations within each HPRA are generated randomly using GIS software. Various coral reef surveys are carried out on an annual basis along the seaward slope between 7 and 15 m depth in the Tumon Bay Marine Preserve and in East Agana Bay, while surveys are carried out biennially within the Piti Bomb Holes Marine Preserve, the Achang Reef Flat Marine Preserve, and the eastern side of the Cocos Barrier Reef (Cocos-East). Surveys were also carried at along reef margin (1-2 m) and slope (2-15 m) of Western Shoals, in Apra Harbor, in 2011. The surveys, which are currently conducted by University of Guam Marine Laboratory biologists, and which were supported by NOAA PIRO through 2019, currently include benthic photo transects, stationary point count fish surveys, macroinvertebrate belt transects, and chain-length rugosity surveys. The GLTMP has conducted surveys at the Tumon and East Agana HPRAs since 2010, the Piti HPRA since 2012, and the Achang and Cocos-East HPRAs began in 2014. Surveys for Fouha Bay HPRA began in 2015 with data collections also occurring in 2019 and 2021, but the site has not been re-visited due to shifting management priorities. Baseline data is available for the Western Shoals HPRA from 2011 but this site has not been re-visited.

The data products described herein document the status and trends for benthic cover and composition at the monitoring sites mentioned above. Benthic cover and coral and algal generic diversity are currently assessed using digital photo transects. Benthic cover estimates were initially derived from photo transect images using Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe; Kohler and Gill 2006) point sampling software, but the web-based image analysis platform CoralNet (Beijborn et al. 2012, Beijborn 2015) was used beginning with the 2019 images. Benthic percent cover is calculated at the sampling station level (= one transect) for data derived from benthic images. Power analyses support the methodological approach, whereby statistically robust cover estimates at broad-level benthic categories can be successfully derived using the level of sampling effort employed by the program.