National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover Derived from Analysis of Benthic Images Collected for Climate Stations across American Samoa since 2015

Description

The coral reef benthic community data described here result from the annotation (classification) of benthic images collected during photoquadrat surveys conducted by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD, formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) as part of NOAA's ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The photoquadrat surveys were conducted at coral reef sites according to protocols established by ESD and NCRMP during ESD-led NCRMP missions to American Samoa in 2015, 2018, and 2023. SCUBA divers conducted benthic photoquadrat surveys at permanent sites established in coral reef habitats by ESD. A select number of these sites were chosen in hard-bottom habitat at ~15-m depths, and a subset of the permanent sites (climate stations) were established at north, south, east, and west points around each of the islands and atolls. The divers estimated and delineated each sites rectangular perimeter by temporarily placing measuring tapes with 1-m markers starting from a permanently installed reference stake on the reef. Along the nearshore 10-m side of the survey site and the downslope 5-m side, the measuring tapes marked every meter of the L-shaped 15-m transect used for photoquadrat documentation. The divers photographed the reef at 1-m intervals on both sides of the 15-m tape, generating 30 photographs per survey site. The benthic habitat images were quantitatively analyzed using Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe; Kohler and Gill, 2006) software from 2010-2014 and the web-based annotation tool, CoralNet (Beijbom et al. 2015), from 2015 to present. Ten points were randomly overlaid on each image and human analysts identified the organism or type of substrate beneath, with 300 annotations (points) generated per site. Benthic elements falling under each point were identified to genus/morphology for hard corals, and to genus/functional group for algae, invertebrates, and other taxa following Lozada-Misa et al. (2017). In general, the analysis resulted in three levels of benthic community data, including taxa group 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.. These benthic data can ultimately be used to produce estimates of relative abundance (percentage of benthic cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition, and relative generic richness. Climate stations are 3-4 sites per island that were selected in a stratified random fashion to be roughly equally spaced around the island, along the 15 m contour, on hard bottom, and at least 1 km away from a river mouth or embayment. Once selected we assess multiple features of the coral reef environment including in-situ temperature (STR), seawater carbonate, net carbonate accretion (CAU), bioerosion (BMU), and cryptobiota diversity (ARMS). These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
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
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across American Samoa in 2018 by the NOAA Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0240353
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across American Samoa in 2023 by the NOAA Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0290792
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25383
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 Link to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program website https://coralreef.noaa.gov
0 NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
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 Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center website. https://origin-apps-pifsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/ecosystem_sciences/
0 PIFSC Website https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/pacific-islands#science
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/25383.pdf
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across American Samoa in 2015 by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157753

Tags

  • benthic communities
  • crep
  • coral cover
  • ofu island (14s169w0013)
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • american samoa (14s170w0000)
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • aquatic habitat
  • coral reef
  • corals
  • tridacna
  • benthic habitat
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • benthic
  • marine plants
  • ecosystems
  • pifsc
  • photograph analysis
  • in situ biological
  • biosphere
  • photographic analysis
  • machine-learning algorithm
  • national coral reef monitoring program
  • community dynamics
  • tutuila island (14s170w0016)
  • oceans
  • rose atoll marine national monument
  • algae
  • coral reef conservation program
  • marine invertebrates
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • american samoa
  • hard coral cover
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • coral point count
  • algal cover
  • nmfs
  • hard coral cover live percentage
  • baseline studies
  • macroinvertebrates
  • marine ecosystems
  • coralnet
  • sponges
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd
  • quadrat monitoring
  • swains atoll (11s171w0001)
  • us doc
  • rainier
  • ta'u island (14s169w0012)
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • manu'a group
  • olosega island (14s169w0014)
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • benthic biology
  • national marine fisheries service
  • seagrass
  • vegetation
  • olosega island
  • ramp
  • crustose coralline algae
  • marine biology
  • other
  • coral communities
  • cred
  • mollusks
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • microbiota
  • benthos analysis
  • point counts
  • 743
  • photograph
  • blue-green algae
  • visual estimate
  • transect monitoring
  • ofu (14s169w0002)
  • reef habitat
  • reef assessment and monitoring program
  • ofu island
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coral
  • benthic species - taxa identities
  • esd
  • coastal processes
  • octocoral cover
  • benthic species
  • reef
  • olosega (14s169w0016)
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • rose atoll (14s168w0001)
  • pacific ocean
  • rapid assessment studies
  • ecological dynamics
  • country/territory
  • belt transect
  • turf algae
  • robot-assisted annotations
  • south pacific ocean
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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