National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover from Annotated Benthic Images Collected During Photoquadrat Surveys at Climate Stations across the Mariana Archipelago since 2014

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 the islands of the Mariana Archipelago in 2014, 2017, and 2022. 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. The divers estimated and delineated each site's 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 20-30 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: hard coral, soft coral, macroalgae, turf algae, etc.), morphology (Tier 2: massive, branching, upright macroalgae, etc.), and genus (Tier 3). 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.

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/36147
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 Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center website https://origin-apps-pifsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/ecosystem_sciences/
0 NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
0 Online Resource https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/pacific-islands#science
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/36147.pdf
0 Benthic community data from annotated benthic images collected during photoquadrat surveys at permanent sites and climate stations across the Mariana Archipelago in 2017 by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0202299
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 community data from annotated benthic images collected during photoquadrat surveys at fixed sites across the Mariana Archipelago in 2022 by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD). http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0279414
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across the Mariana archipelago in 2014 by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157721
0 Updated classification scheme that defines categories in photoquad annotations using CoralNet. http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0279414

Tags

  • benthic communities
  • crep
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • western pacific ocean
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • maug
  • asuncion island (19n145e0001)
  • aquatic habitat
  • coral reef
  • corals
  • benthic habitat
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • benthic
  • ocean chemistry
  • ecosystems
  • northern mariana islands
  • pifsc
  • biosphere
  • coral - species identification
  • photographic analysis
  • national coral reef monitoring program
  • maug island
  • rota island
  • community dynamics
  • oceans
  • algae
  • coral reef conservation program
  • pacific reef and assessment monitoring program
  • rota island ( luta ) (14n145e0007)
  • marine invertebrates
  • maug island (20n145e0001)
  • northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000)
  • cnmi
  • noaa
  • guam
  • pagan island (18n145e0001)
  • numeric data sets
  • marianas
  • nmfs
  • macroinvertebrates
  • marine ecosystems
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd
  • guam (13n144e0000)
  • us doc
  • tinian island reefs
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • benthic species - taxa counts
  • earth science
  • benthic biology
  • national marine fisheries service
  • ocean
  • vegetation
  • ramp
  • climate change
  • crustose coralline algae
  • mariana archipelago
  • marine biology
  • marianas archipelago
  • coral communities
  • cred
  • biological
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • saipan island
  • rota
  • saipan
  • marianas trench marine national monument
  • pagan
  • microbiota
  • benthos analysis
  • 743
  • commonwealth of the northern mariana islands
  • photograph
  • blue-green algae
  • visual estimate
  • pagan island
  • reef habitat
  • asuncion island
  • reef assessment and monitoring program
  • coral reef ecology
  • micronesia
  • ocean basin
  • habitat - benthic
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coral
  • benthic species - taxa identities
  • esd
  • coastal processes
  • hi'ialakai
  • saipan island (15n145e0002)
  • laboratory analyses
  • benthic species
  • reef
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • pacific ocean
  • ecological dynamics
  • country/territory
  • noaa ship rainier
  • tinian
  • nw pacific (limit-180)
  • turf algae
  • tinian island (14n145e0005)
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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