NOAA Shallow-Water Benthic Habitats: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Nihoa

Benthic habitat maps for the nearshore, shallow (< 30 m) coastal waters of Nihoa Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) produced these data to support coral reef research and management. Habitat regions were digitally identified using visual interpretation of orthorectified satellite imagery with a minimum mapping unit (MMU) of approximately 100 square meters (1/40 acre).

A slightly different benthic habitat classification scheme was used for the NWHI compared to the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) and other regions across the Pacific (e.g., American Samoa, Guam, and CNMI). While many classes are similar, they are not categorized as biological cover types, geomorphological structure types, and geographic zones. Instead, a hierarchical scheme was used to flexibly denote substrate category (e.g., unconsolidated and hardbottom), structure (e.g., linear reef or pavement), and cover (e.g., coral, coralline algae, or macroalgae).

A total of 45 detailed benthic habitat classes were identified within the NWHI. For simplification and to more easily distinguish cover types, these are presented in a set of 7 aggregated benthic habitat classes including 5 hardbottom substrate classes (live coral, coralline algae, macroalgae, uncolonized, and unknown biological cover) and 2 unconsolidated substrate classes (macroalgae and uncolonized). Query an aggregated polygon to get the detailed benthic habitat classification at the clicked location.