National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover from Annotated Benthic Images Collected During Photoquadrat Surveys at Climate Stations across the Pacific Remote Island Areas 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 and atolls of the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) from 2014, 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 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 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.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2018 by the NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0239474
0 Benthic community data from annotated benthic images collected during photoquadrat surveys at permanent sites and climate stations at Wake Atoll of the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2017 by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0202300
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2023 by the NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0290628
0 CoralNet Home Page https://coralnet.ucsd.edu/
0 NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2015 by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0159152
0 Image analysis data derived from photoquadrat benthic images at NCRMP climate stations and permanent sites across Wake Island in 2014 by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0159145
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 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36148
0 Coral Point Count with Excel Extensions (CPCe) Home Page https://cnso.nova.edu/cpce/
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/36148.pdf
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center website 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

Tags

  • benthic communities
  • kingman reef (06n162w0001)
  • crep
  • 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
  • benthic habitat
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • benthic
  • ocean chemistry
  • baker island
  • ecosystems
  • pifsc
  • equatorial pacific ocean
  • 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
  • pacific reef and assessment monitoring program
  • marine invertebrates
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • coral point count
  • nmfs
  • macroinvertebrates
  • marine ecosystems
  • coralnet
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd
  • baker island (00n176w0001)
  • 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
  • vegetation
  • ramp
  • climate change
  • crustose coralline algae
  • primnm
  • pria
  • marine biology
  • other
  • coral communities
  • cred
  • howland island (00s176w0001)
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • microbiota
  • benthos analysis
  • central pacific ocean
  • usa minor outlying islands
  • 743
  • photograph
  • blue-green algae
  • visual estimate
  • reef habitat
  • reef assessment and monitoring program
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coral
  • benthic species - taxa identities
  • esd
  • coastal processes
  • johnston atoll
  • hi'ialakai
  • benthic species
  • reef
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • pacific ocean
  • ecological dynamics
  • country/territory
  • turf algae
  • wake atoll (19n167e0001)
  • robot-assisted annotations
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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