National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Towed-diver Surveys of Benthic Habitat, Key Benthic Species, and Marine Debris Sightings of the Marianas since 2014

Description

The towed-diver method is used to conduct benthic surveys, assessing large-scale disturbances (e.g., bleaching) and quantifying benthic components such as habitat complexity/type and the general distribution and abundance patterns of live coral, crustose coralline algae (CCA), macroalgae, and macroinvertebrates. Surveys are conducted in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). A suitable method for assessing relatively large areas of reef habitat, the method involves towing a pair of SCUBA divers—one benthic and one fish—behind a small boat for approximately 50 min following the ~15-m depth contour and covering about 2–3 km of habitat. Each diver is equipped with a towboard and attempts to maintain a constant elevation above the surface of the reef (~1 m) for the duration of the survey. A complete towed-diver survey is divided into 10, 5-min segments, with visual observations recorded by 5-min segment. The visual estimate data provided in this dataset were collected during towed-diver surveys which includes percentage cover of total live hard corals, stressed hard corals, soft corals, sand, coralline algae, and macroalgae, and the number of individual macroinvertebrates (crown of thorns starfish (COTS), sea urchins, and giant clams). Benthic habitat complexity and type data are also collected as part of the survey with the following habitat type categories: continuous reef, spur and groove, patch reefs, rock boulders, pavement, rubble flat, sand flats, pinnacle, and wall. The data were collected around the Marianas as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led missions since 2014. These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted in the Marianas in 2014. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157550
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted in the Marianas in 2017. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0166629
0 Ecosystem Sciences Division standard operating procedures: data collection for towed-diver benthic and fish surveys. PIFSC Administrative Report H-18-02. https://doi.org/10.25923/59sb-sy51 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/35769
0 Information about the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) on the NOAA Coral Reef Information System website. http://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
0 NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, survey methods page, which includes a brief description of the towed-diver survey method used since 2000 to survey the benthic habitat. http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/35769.pdf
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, Benthic Monitoring https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/benthic_monitoring.php
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted in the Marianas in 2017. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0166629
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, survey methods page, which includes a brief description of the towed-diver survey method used since 2000 to survey the benthic habitat. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/35769.pdf
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted in the Marianas in 2014. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157550
0 Ecosystem Sciences Division standard operating procedures: data collection for towed-diver benthic and fish surveys. PIFSC Administrative Report H-18-02. https://doi.org/10.25923/59sb-sy51 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/35769
0 Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, Benthic Monitoring https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/benthic_monitoring.php
0 Information about the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) on the NOAA Coral Reef Information System website. https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted in the Marianas in 2014. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157550
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted in the Marianas in 2017. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0166629
0 Ecosystem Sciences Division standard operating procedures: data collection for towed-diver benthic and fish surveys. PIFSC Administrative Report H-18-02. https://doi.org/10.25923/59sb-sy51 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/35769
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, Benthic Monitoring https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/benthic_monitoring.php
0 Information about the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) on the NOAA Coral Reef Information System website. https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
0 NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, survey methods page, which includes a brief description of the towed-diver survey method used since 2000 to survey the benthic habitat. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/35769.pdf

Tags

  • guguan island
  • farallon de pajaros (12n144e0001)
  • crep
  • aguijan
  • coral cover
  • hard coral cover dead percentage
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • western pacific ocean
  • alamagan island (17n145e0002)
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • maug
  • asuncion island (19n145e0001)
  • aquatic habitat
  • towed diver
  • corals
  • guguan island (17n145e0001)
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • northern mariana islands
  • pifsc
  • biosphere
  • survey - coral reef
  • national coral reef monitoring program
  • maug island
  • rota island
  • survey
  • oceans
  • photic zone corals
  • coral reef conservation program
  • rota island ( luta ) (14n145e0007)
  • marine invertebrates
  • maug island (20n145e0001)
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • population density
  • northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000)
  • hard coral cover
  • survey - biological
  • cnmi
  • noaa
  • guam
  • pagan island (18n145e0001)
  • numeric data sets
  • marianas
  • aguijan island reefs
  • nmfs
  • hard coral cover live percentage
  • macroinvertebrates
  • farallon de pajaros
  • biology
  • guam (13n144e0000)
  • us doc
  • debris
  • habitats
  • tinian island reefs
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • tds
  • benthic biology
  • national marine fisheries service
  • triennial
  • mariana archipelago
  • tows
  • marine biology
  • marianas archipelago
  • coral communities
  • cred
  • guguan
  • saipan island
  • rota
  • saipan
  • marianas trench marine national monument
  • pagan
  • survey - swimmer/diver
  • 743
  • commonwealth of the northern mariana islands
  • mariana islands
  • visual estimate
  • pagan island
  • reef habitat
  • asuncion island
  • nw pacific
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • towed-diver surveys
  • habitat - benthic
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coral
  • temperature
  • coastal processes
  • hi'ialakai
  • coral mortality
  • saipan island (15n145e0002)
  • macroinvertebrate census
  • census
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • sarigan island (16n145e0003)
  • pacific ocean
  • towboard
  • country/territory
  • tinian
  • alamagan island
  • sarigan island
  • tinian island (14n145e0005)
  • coral reef studies
  • aguijan island (14n145e0006)
  • coral reef ecosystem program
  • depth - sensor

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