National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover Derived from Analysis of Benthic Images Collected during Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) across the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014

Description

The data described here result from benthic photo-quadrat surveys conducted along transects at stratified random sites across the American Samoa in 2015, 2018, and 2023 as a part of Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys for corals and fish. Benthic habitat imagery were quantitatively analyzed using the Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe; Kohler and Gill, 2006) software from 2010-2014 and using the web-based annotation tool CoralNet (Beijbom et al. 2016) from 2015 to present. Images are analyzed to produce three functional group levels of benthic cover: Tier 1 (e.g., coral, soft coral, macroalgae, turf algae, etc.), Tier 2 (e.g., Coral = massive hard coral, branching hard coral, foliose hard coral, encrusting hard coral, etc.; Macroalga = upright macroalgae), and Tier 3 (e.g., Coral = Astreopora sp, Favia sp, Pocillopora, etc.; Macroalgae = Caulerpa sp, Dictyosphaeria sp, Padina sp, etc.). If Tier 3 resolution is not possible, the next finest resolution is used. A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems across the region. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0-30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included island, reef zone, and depth. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area and sites were randomly located within strata. Sites were surveyed using photo-quadrats along transects to collect benthic imagery to ultimately produce estimates of relative abundance (benthic cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition and relative generic richness. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than sampling more transects at a site. Therefore, site-level estimates and site to site comparisons should be used with caution. The data from the benthic cover surveys can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Benthic cover data derived from analysis of photoquadrat benthic images collected from stratified random sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2017 by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0176575
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at stratified random sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2015 by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0159165
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at stratified random sites across Wake Island in 2014 by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0159158
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP Stratified Random Survey sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2023 by the NOAA Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0290543
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36157
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 Coral Point Count with Excel Extensions (CPCe) Home Page https://cnso.nova.edu/cpce/
0 CoralNet Home Page https://coralnet.ucsd.edu/
0 NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
0 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/pacific-islands#science
0 Online Resource https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/corals.php
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/36157.pdf
0 PIFSC Administrative Report, January 2017: Analysis of benthic survey images via CoralNet : a summary of standard operating procedures and guidelines https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157633
0 Benthic cover data derived from analysis of photoquadrat benthic images collected from stratified random sites at Jarvis of the Pacific Remote Island Areas in May 2016 by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0176560
0 Benthic cover data derived from analysis of photoquadrat benthic images collected from stratified random sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2018 by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0239473

Tags

  • benthic communities
  • kingman reef (06n162w0001)
  • crep
  • coral cover
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • pacific remote islands marine national monument
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • johnston atoll (16n169w0001)
  • aquatic habitat
  • wake atoll
  • coral reef
  • corals
  • tridacna
  • benthic habitat
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • benthic
  • marine plants
  • baker island
  • ecosystems
  • pifsc
  • equatorial pacific ocean
  • photograph analysis
  • in situ biological
  • jarvis island (00s160w0001)
  • biosphere
  • photographic analysis
  • pacific remote island areas
  • machine-learning algorithm
  • national coral reef monitoring program
  • palmyra atoll (05n162w0001)
  • community dynamics
  • oceans
  • algae
  • coral reef conservation program
  • oscar elton sette
  • marine invertebrates
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • hard coral cover
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • coral point count
  • algal cover
  • nmfs
  • macroinvertebrates
  • marine ecosystems
  • coralnet
  • sponges
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd
  • baker island (00n176w0001)
  • quadrat monitoring
  • us doc
  • rainier
  • howland island
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • benthic biology
  • line islands
  • national marine fisheries service
  • seagrass
  • vegetation
  • ramp
  • crustose coralline algae
  • primnm
  • pria
  • marine biology
  • coral communities
  • cred
  • mollusks
  • howland island (00s176w0001)
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • microbiota
  • benthos analysis
  • central pacific ocean
  • usa minor outlying islands
  • point counts
  • 743
  • photograph
  • blue-green algae
  • visual estimate
  • transect monitoring
  • reef habitat
  • derived products
  • reef assessment and monitoring program
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coral
  • esd
  • coastal processes
  • johnston atoll
  • hi'ialakai
  • octocoral cover
  • reef
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • pacific ocean
  • rapid assessment studies
  • ecological dynamics
  • country/territory
  • belt transect
  • turf algae
  • wake atoll (19n167e0001)
  • robot-assisted annotations
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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