Structure from Motion (SfM) Coral Vital Rates Annotations derived from Fixed Site Imagery across the U.S. Pacific since 2014

Description

The data described here are coral planar area measurements derived from the analysis of benthic photomosaic imagery collected at fixed sites across Pacific Island regions since 2014. The source imagery was collected using a Structure from Motion (SfM) approach during in-water surveys conducted by divers. Imagery archival is documented separately here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/63091. All sites were surveyed at least twice and image collection intervals ranged from a few minutes (for error estimation) to 5 years apart. In situ surveys, post-processing, and analysis were funded by NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and Ocean Acidification Program (OAP). Data collection was conducted by the NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD).

Survey sites consisted of sites previously established by collaborators from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, starting as far back as 2014, and new sites established in 2019 by NOAA ESD. During each survey, physical markings which identify each permanent survey site were either established or found using GPS coordinates previously collected. During image collection, the diver swam at a constant distance from the bottom of the reef while continuously capturing overlapping photographs, capturing approximately 100 m2 of reef habitat. 3D dense point clouds (DPCs) and 2D orthorectified images (orthoprojections) derived from these photographs were used to to measure changes in coral vital rates (e.g. recruitment, mortality, growth) over time.

Due to the labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of coral annotation, we used a randomized sub-sampling strategy that provided enough colony-level data across a wide range of size classes to fit robust demographic models. Each site was sub-sampled by randomly distributing a minimum of 10 0.5 m2 quadrats throughout each orthoprojection. All corals whose centroid fell within the quadrat were annotated until a sufficient number of corals were annotated (n >/= 30 for each target coral species). The target taxa species vary by region and include Acropora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Porites.

In total, this dataset includes planar area and associated vital rates measurements for 5 coral species in 2 genera (Pocillopora and Porites) at 14 sites throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, 3 genera (Pocillopora, Porites and Acropora) at 10 sites throughout the Mariana Archipelago and 4 genera (Pocillopora, Porites, Acropora and Montipora) at 11 sites across American Samoa and Pacific Remote Islands and Atolls (PRIAs).

Resources

Name Format Description Link
SfM_VitalRates_MHI_NWHI.csv Unknown Metadata for each Structure from Motion (SfM) survey site (site information, survey date and location), and adult coral colony observations identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (usually species) including initial and final size measurement. Surveys were conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division and Scripps Institution of Oceanography throughout the Main Hawaiian Islands from 2014-2019. Imagery annotation was conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division. Open resource
SfM_VitalRates_MARIAN_2022.csv Unknown Metadata for each Structure from Motion (SfM) survey site (site information, survey date and location), adult coral colony observations identified to the genus level and size measurements. Surveys were conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division and Scripps Institution of Oceanography throughout the Mariana Archipelago from 2014-2022. Imagery annotation was conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division. Open resource
SFM_VitalRates_AMSM_PRIA_2023.csv Unknown Metadata for each Structure from Motion (SfM) survey site (site information, survey date and location), adult coral colony observations identified to the genus level and size measurements. Surveys were conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division and Scripps Institution of Oceanography throughout American Samoa and Pacific Remote Islands and Atolls (PRIAs) from 2014-2023. Imagery annotation was conducted by the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division. Open resource
NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program Unknown NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) website. Open resource
GCMD Keyword Forum Page Unknown 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 Open resource
Extracting Coral Vital Rate Estimates at Fixed Sites Using Structure-from-Motion SOP Unknown Vital Rates Technical Memorandum Open resource
Full Metadata Record Unknown View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. Open resource
NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) PDF NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. Open resource
Coral Reefs in the Pacific Unknown NOAA Fisheries Website Open resource
NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Region - Science Overview Unknown overview of NOAA Pacific islands jurisdiction Open resource
Measuring Coral Vital Rates Using TagLab SOP Unknown This standard operating procedure (SOP) provides a time savings comparison between manual annotation using the previous Vital Rates workflow (Rodriguez et al. 2021) and our TagLab-assisted Vital Rates workflow. We posit that, although TagLab remains an ongoing project of the Visual Computing lab and requires additional testing, it reduces personnel hours by 40%, making it a worthwhile approach to quantifying coral vital rates. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center technical memoranda are issued to promptly disseminate scientific and technical information to marine resource managers, scientists, and the general public. Their contents cover a range of topics, including biological and economic research, stock assessment, trends in fisheries, and other subjects. Administrative reports typically have not been reviewed outside the Center; therefore, they are considered informal publications. The material presented in administrative reports may later be published in the formal scientific literature after more rigorous verification, editing, and peer review. Open resource
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website Unknown Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage Open resource

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