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

Description

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.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/47784
0 Link to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program website https://coralreef.noaa.gov
33 End-of-grant report that includes detailed information about the monitoring program's background and survey methodology, as well as the results of an analysis of baseline data collected at the Fouha Bay, Achang, Tepungan (Piti) Bay and the modified Tumon Bay site, and an analysis of time series data collected at the Tumon Bay, East Agana Bay, and Tepungan (Piti) Bay sites. https://guamcoralreefmonitoring.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/guam_ltmp_spring2019_report_final-2.pdf
0 Guam Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring Program website https://guamcoralreefmonitoring.wordpress.com/
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/47784.pdf
21 CPCe website http://cnso.nova.edu/cpce/index.html
33 End-of-grant report that includes detailed information about the monitoring program's background and survey methodology, as well as the results of analyses of data collected at several High Priority Reef Areas (HPRAs) between 2010 and 2021, at island-wide bleaching response and recovery sites between 2013 and 2021, at Reef Flat Monitoring Program sites between 2009 and 2022, and at staghorn coral communities between 2015 and 2021. https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/ml/technical_reports/UOGML_TechRep170_GLTMP_2023.pdf
0 Benthic cover data from the Tumon Bay, East Agana Bay, Piti (Tepungan) Bay, Achang, Cocos-East, Fouha Bay, and Western Shoals sites between 2010 and 2016 http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/accession#
0 Benthic cover data from the Tumon Bay, East Agana Bay, Piti (Tepungan) Bay, Achang, Cocos-East, Fouha Bay, and Western Shoals sites between 2010 and 2016 https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/accession#
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/47784
0 Link to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program website https://coralreef.noaa.gov
21 CPCe website http://cnso.nova.edu/cpce/index.html
33 End-of-grant report that includes detailed information about the monitoring program's background and survey methodology, as well as the results of an analysis of baseline data collected at the Fouha Bay, Achang, Tepungan (Piti) Bay and the modified Tumon Bay site, and an analysis of time series data collected at the Tumon Bay, East Agana Bay, and Tepungan (Piti) Bay sites. https://guamcoralreefmonitoring.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/guam_ltmp_spring2019_report_final-2.pdf
33 End-of-grant report that includes detailed information about the monitoring program's background and survey methodology, as well as the results of analyses of data collected at several High Priority Reef Areas (HPRAs) between 2010 and 2021, at island-wide bleaching response and recovery sites between 2013 and 2021, at Reef Flat Monitoring Program sites between 2009 and 2022, and at staghorn coral communities between 2015 and 2021. https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/ml/technical_reports/UOGML_TechRep170_GLTMP_2023.pdf
0 Guam Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring Program website https://guamcoralreefmonitoring.wordpress.com/
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/47784.pdf

Tags

  • coral reef ecosystem
  • coral cover
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • western pacific ocean
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • aquatic habitat
  • marine ecosystem
  • corals
  • tridacna
  • benthic habitat
  • benthic
  • marine plants
  • photograph analysis
  • biosphere
  • east agana bay (13n144e0063)
  • photographic analysis
  • oceans
  • algae
  • long-term monitoring program
  • marine invertebrates
  • benthic cover
  • guam coral reef monitoring data management initiative
  • hard coral cover
  • achang (13n144e0064)
  • noaa
  • guam
  • numeric data sets
  • marianas
  • algal cover
  • hard coral cover live percentage
  • piti bay (13n144e0061)
  • macroinvertebrates
  • sponges
  • guam reefs
  • quadrat monitoring
  • guam (13n144e0000)
  • fouha bay (13n144e0024)
  • rapid ecological assessments
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • obsolete
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • guam long-term coral reef monitoring program
  • national marine fisheries service
  • seagrass
  • vegetation
  • rea
  • crustose coralline algae
  • coral diseases
  • mariana archipelago
  • cyanobacteria
  • marine biology
  • mollusks
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • bleaching
  • microbiota
  • benthos analysis
  • mariana islands
  • blue-green algae
  • western shoal (13n144e0062)
  • reef habitat
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • coastal processes
  • octocoral cover
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • 488
  • pacific ocean
  • rapid assessment studies
  • country/territory
  • cocos barrier reefs (13n144e0001)
  • tumon bay (13n144e0004)
  • turf algae

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