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
NCRMP_BIA_CNET_STRS_PRIAS_2023 Unknown 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) Open resource
PIFSC_H-17-02_2017_SOP_ImageAnalysis_CN.pdf Unknown PIFSC Administrative Report, January 2017: Analysis of benthic survey images via CoralNet : a summary of standard operating procedures and guidelines Open resource
MV_BIA_CNET_ANALYSIS_DATA PRIAs 2014.csv Unknown 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) Open resource
MV_BIA_CNET_ANALYSIS_DATA PRIAs 2015.csv Unknown 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) Open resource
MV_BIA_CNET_ANALYSIS_DATA PRIAs 2016.csv Unknown 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) Open resource
MV_BIA_CNET_ANALYSIS_DATA PRIAs 2017.csv Unknown 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) Open resource
BENTHIC_COVER_PRIAs_StRS_2018.csv Unknown 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) Open resource
Citation URL Unknown Coral Point Count with Excel Extensions (CPCe) Home Page Open resource
Citation URL Unknown CoralNet Home Page Open resource
Citation URL Unknown NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. Open resource
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords Unknown 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. Open resource
Full Metadata Record Unknown View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. Open resource
NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) PDF NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. Open resource
PIFSC Website Unknown Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website Open resource
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website Unknown Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage Open resource
Citation URL Unknown Online Resource Open resource

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