Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Towed-diver Surveys of Benthic Habitat, Key Benthic Species, including Marine Debris Sightings, of the U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2000 to 2012

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, 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 at coral reefs across all U.S.-affiliated regions as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led missions since 2000. These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 Observations from towed-diver surveys of the benthic habitat conducted across the Pacific Islands Region by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division from 2000 to 2012. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0163745
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/35618
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. http://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/35618.pdf
0 Link to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program website https://coralreef.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. http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php
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

  • hawaiian islands (21n157w0027)
  • lanai island (20n156w0002)
  • crep
  • lanai island
  • coral cover
  • townsend cromwell
  • hard coral cover dead percentage
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • aquatic habitat
  • towed diver
  • corals
  • north pacific ocean
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • oahu (21n157w0003)
  • pifsc
  • maui
  • biosphere
  • survey - coral reef
  • survey
  • oceans
  • maui island (20n156w0004)
  • photic zone corals
  • mhi
  • coral reef conservation program
  • oscar elton sette
  • pacific reef and assessment monitoring program
  • marine invertebrates
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • population density
  • maui island
  • hard coral cover
  • survey - biological
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • hawaii
  • nmfs
  • hard coral cover live percentage
  • macroinvertebrates
  • oahu island
  • biology
  • us doc
  • debris
  • habitats
  • hawaii island (19n155w0003)
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • hawaii (21n160w0000)
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • tds
  • benthic biology
  • national marine fisheries service
  • hawaiian islands
  • ramp
  • ecosystem monitoring and assessment
  • tows
  • marine biology
  • coral communities
  • cred
  • honolulu
  • survey - swimmer/diver
  • central pacific ocean
  • visual estimate
  • pacific reef assessment and monitoring program: monitoring coral reef ecosystems of the us pacific i
  • reef habitat
  • reef assessment and monitoring program
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • main hawaiian islands
  • towed-diver surveys
  • habitat - benthic
  • c204 pacific reef assessment and monitoring program (pacific ramp): biennial monitoring for the us p
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coral
  • temperature
  • biennial
  • coastal processes
  • hi'ialakai
  • 1221
  • coral mortality
  • macroinvertebrate census
  • census
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • pacific ocean
  • towboard
  • country/territory
  • hawaii island
  • 587
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program
  • depth - sensor

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