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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover Data from Annotated Benthic Images Collected During Photoquadrat Surveys at Climate Stations across the Mariana Archipelago from 2022-04-12 to 2022-08-06. (NCEI Accession 0279414)

The coral reef benthic community data described here result from the annotation (classification) of benthic images collected during photoquadrat surveys conducted by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD, formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) as part of NOAA's ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The photoquadrat surveys were conducted at fixed sites across the Mariana Archipelago from April 12 to August 6th as part of the ESD-led NCRMP mission to the Marianas in 2022. Islands visited during the mission include Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan, Pagan, Asuncion, and Maug.

SCUBA divers conducted benthic photoquadrat surveys at permanent sites established in coral reef habitats by ESD. A select number of these sites were chosen in hard-bottom habitat at ~15-m depths, and a subset of the permanent sites (climate stations) were established at north, south, east, and west points around each of the islands. The divers estimated and delineated each site’s rectangular perimeter by temporarily placing measuring tapes with 1-m markers starting from a permanently installed reference stake on the reef. Along the nearshore 10-m side of the survey site and the downslope 5-m side, the measuring tapes marked every meter of the L-shaped 15-m transect used for photoquadrat documentation. The divers photographed the reef at 1-m intervals on both sides of the 15-m tape, generating 30 photographs per survey site.

The benthic habitat images were quantitatively analyzed using the web-based annotation tool, CoralNet (Beijbom et al. 2015). Ten points were randomly overlaid on each image and human analysts identified the organism or type of substrate beneath, with 300 annotations (points) generated per site. Benthic elements falling under each point were identified to genus/morphology for hard corals, and to genus/functional group for algae, invertebrates, and other taxa following Lozada-Misa et al. (2017). The analysis resulted in three levels of benthic community data, including taxa group (Tier 1: hard coral, soft coral, macroalgae, turf algae, etc.), morphology (Tier 2: massive, branching, upright macroalgae, etc.), and genus (Tier 3). These benthic data can ultimately be used to produce estimates of relative abundance (percentage of benthic cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition, and relative generic richness.

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Updated: 2024-02-22
Metadata Last Updated: 2023-06-26T21:29:54.565Z
Date Created: N/A
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Title National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover Data from Annotated Benthic Images Collected During Photoquadrat Surveys at Climate Stations across the Mariana Archipelago from 2022-04-12 to 2022-08-06. (NCEI Accession 0279414)
Description The coral reef benthic community data described here result from the annotation (classification) of benthic images collected during photoquadrat surveys conducted by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD, formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) as part of NOAA's ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The photoquadrat surveys were conducted at fixed sites across the Mariana Archipelago from April 12 to August 6th as part of the ESD-led NCRMP mission to the Marianas in 2022. Islands visited during the mission include Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan, Pagan, Asuncion, and Maug. SCUBA divers conducted benthic photoquadrat surveys at permanent sites established in coral reef habitats by ESD. A select number of these sites were chosen in hard-bottom habitat at ~15-m depths, and a subset of the permanent sites (climate stations) were established at north, south, east, and west points around each of the islands. The divers estimated and delineated each site’s rectangular perimeter by temporarily placing measuring tapes with 1-m markers starting from a permanently installed reference stake on the reef. Along the nearshore 10-m side of the survey site and the downslope 5-m side, the measuring tapes marked every meter of the L-shaped 15-m transect used for photoquadrat documentation. The divers photographed the reef at 1-m intervals on both sides of the 15-m tape, generating 30 photographs per survey site. The benthic habitat images were quantitatively analyzed using the web-based annotation tool, CoralNet (Beijbom et al. 2015). Ten points were randomly overlaid on each image and human analysts identified the organism or type of substrate beneath, with 300 annotations (points) generated per site. Benthic elements falling under each point were identified to genus/morphology for hard corals, and to genus/functional group for algae, invertebrates, and other taxa following Lozada-Misa et al. (2017). The analysis resulted in three levels of benthic community data, including taxa group (Tier 1: hard coral, soft coral, macroalgae, turf algae, etc.), morphology (Tier 2: massive, branching, upright macroalgae, etc.), and genus (Tier 3). These benthic data can ultimately be used to produce estimates of relative abundance (percentage of benthic cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition, and relative generic richness.
Modified 2023-06-26T21:29:54.565Z
Publisher Name N/A
Contact N/A
Keywords 0279414 , BENTHIC COMMUNITIES , photograph , laboratory analyses , NOAA Ship Rainier , US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division , US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center , Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) , CORAL REEF STUDIES , National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) , Northwest Pacific Ocean (limit-180) , oceanography , DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC , Ships , RAINIER (ICES code: 315R) , OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN , environment , oceans
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