Data Management Plan

Coral belt transect surveys, focused at quantifying the relative abundance, density, and size-class distribution of the anthozoan and hydrozoan corals, as well as the condition and health state of the coral populations were conducted around the islands of Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program and the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) from March 8, 2010 to November 8, 2011.

The surveys were conducted along two pre-selected transect lines. For coral observations the transect length was 12 m long and the transect width was 1 m wide (0.5 m on each side of the transect line). For coral condition and health observations, the transect length was between 12.5 and 25 m long and the transect width was 1 m, 2 m or 4 m wide (0.5 m, 1.0 m, or 2.0 m on each side of the transect line). The surveyed area was 24 m^2 per site for the coral observations, and ranged from to 25 m^2 to 200 m^2 per site for the disease observations.

Within each transect 1-m segments were surveyed, whereby in each segment all coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5 m of either side of the transect line were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (genus or species) and colony size visually estimated and binned by its maximum diameter in one of 7 size classes: 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-80 cm, 80-160 cm, or >160 cm.

When a coral colony exhibited signs of disease or compromised health, additional information was separately recorded. Within each of the two transects, all diseased coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5–2 m on each side of each transect line were carefully examined, measured (length and width of the colony in centimeters, when survey time allowed), identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, and assigned to one of several types of afflictions, including coral and algal diseases, bleaching, infections, infestations, discolorations, predation, pigmentation responses, skeletal growth anomalies, and tissue loss. Severity of the affliction (mild, moderate, marked, severe, acute) was also recorded for a subset of bleaching observations only. Photographic documentation was also captured (archived and documented separately).

Raw survey data includes species presence, colony counts per taxon, colony size (binned sizes for coral observations, colony width and length for a subset of disease observations), affliction observed, and severity of condition (for observations of bleached corals only).

Lineage Statement:
Belt transect surveys of corals and coral diseases are investigations that provide a high degree of taxonomic resolution for coral. The majority of surveys were conducted at depths between 3 and 48 m. The selection of survey sites was made in close consultation local partners.

Process Steps:

• The surveys were conducted along two pre-selected transect lines. For coral observations the transect length was 12 m long and the transect width was 1 m wide (0.5 m on each side of the transect line). For coral condition and health observations, the transect length was between 12.5 and 25 m long and the transect width was 1 m, 2 m or 4 m wide (0.5 m, 1.0 m, or 2.0 m on each side of the transect line). The surveyed area was 24 m^2 per site for the coral observations, and ranged from to 25 m^2 to 200 m^2 per site for the disease observations. Within each transect 1-m segments were surveyed, whereby in each segment all coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5 m of either side of the transect line were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (genus or species) and colony size visually estimated and binned by its maximum diameter in one of 7 size classes: 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-80 cm, 80-160 cm, or >160 cm. When a coral colony exhibited signs of disease or compromised health, additional information was separately recorded. Within each of the two transects, all diseased coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5–2 m on each side of each transect line were carefully examined, measured (length and width of the colony in centimeters, when survey time allowed), identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, and assigned to one of several types of afflictions, including coral and algal diseases, bleaching, infections, infestations, discolorations, predation, pigmentation responses, skeletal growth anomalies, and tissue loss. Severity of the affliction (mild, moderate, marked, severe, acute) was also recorded for a subset of bleaching observations only. Photographic documentation was also captured

Quality control of the data occurred at a few stages from data entry to data ingestion into the Oracle database. Data entry is conducted using a data entry interface with several data controls employed, and are quality controlled by individual divers checking entry errors at a separate time by checking the data entered against the physical data sheets. The data was then run through rigorous quality control checks by the data management team before the data was migrated to the Oracle database. There are also several queries in the MS Access / Oracle database to flag errors based on pre-defined criteria. Given the size of the data set, there remains some possibility of typographical or other errors.

Data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.