Description

A REA survey is a collection of inter-disciplinary protocols for gathering data pertaining to ecologically relevant biological components of a reef habitat over small spatial scales. A key facet of a REA survey includes specialists in different disciplines, including Fish, Coral, Algae, and Invertebrates. The REA surveys are conducted along a set of transect lines that are laid out by the first team to enter the water (i.e. the fish team). In this way, all of the biotic observations are referenced with regard to the same spatial coordinates, producing a more integrated biological description of a reef community than would any single, specialized survey. At each REA survey site, the Line-Point-Intercept methodology is implemented to quantitatively document the benthic cover along two consecutively placed, 25 m line transects (with a 5 m inter-transect distance). The LPI diver determines the benthic composition at pre-determined intervals along the transect line. During the initial years of RAMP (2005-2008) LPI surveys were conducted at 50-cm intervals for a total of 50 data points per transect; subsequently (2010â2012) LPI surveys were conducted at 20-cm intervals for a total of 125 data points per transect. All living benthic elements (e.g., coral, algae, and other sessile invertebrates) are identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, often substituting functional group categories for turf algae and crustose coralline algae when identification in the field is extremely difficult. Raw survey data consist of counts of benthic elements, including but not limited to live coral, dead coral, carbonate pavement, sand, coral rubble, fleshy macroalgae, crustose coralline algae, turfalgae, as well as other sessile invertebrates along the two transects. The data allows for the assessment and monitoring of community structure and composition, and provide the basis for computing quantitative estimates of percent benthic cover at higher taxonomic levels like functional group (live coral, macroalgae, turf algae) or on a finer taxonomic resolution such as genus level.

Resources

Format	Description	Link
0	Observations from LPI surveys conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) across the U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2005 - 2012.	https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0163748
0	View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset.	https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25261
0	Link to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program website	https://coralreef.noaa.gov
0	Official NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) website, Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) project page.	https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/pacific_ramp.php
0	Overview of NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) benthic monitoring efforts	https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/benthic_monitoring.php
0	Overview of NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) survey methods	https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php#benthic_monitoring_rea
33	NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort.	https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/25261.pdf
0	Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage	https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
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

Pacific Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program: Line-Point-Intercept (LPI) Surveys for Benthic Cover at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2012

Description

Resources

Tags

Topics

Categories