Fish, Benthic and Urchin Survey Data from Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (HFMA), Maui since 2008

Data are summary fish, benthic and urchin data from belt transect surveys conducted by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD; formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) within the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA) in West Maui.

Surveys were completed in 'rounds', each round being an intensive 4 day survey effort (occasionally with an additional day soon after) from 2009 to 2021. Also included are data gathered by Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (HDAR) in 2008 at the same locations and using the same survey design and methods.

Each row represents a single survey of a 25-m haphazardly located transect within the KHFMA. All transects are included. Habitat types are SAG (shallow aggregate reef); DAG (deep aggregate reef); MMX (mixed mid-depth reef); SSG (shallow spur and groove); DSG (deep spur and groove); and SPA (shallow pavement).

Benthic cover (%) is extracted from a photo-transect (25 photographs taken at 1-m intervals, 15+ points analyzed per photograph using image analysis softwares PhotoGrid or CoralNet). -9 values represent situations where images were either not gathered or not analyzed.

Fishes are surveyed by means of a diver swimming outward and return swims along the same transect. On the outward swims, the diver records all fishes >15 cm total length (TL) within a 4-m wide belt centered on the diver; on the return swim, divers record fishes <15 cm TL within a 2-m wide belt. Fish species and size observations are converted to biomass (grams per square meter, or g/m^2) using species-specific length-weight conversion parameters. Urchins are counted on a 1-m wide belt centered on the transect line. Urchin density is calculated by the number per square meter (#/m^2).

In 2009, the state of Hawaii established the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA) in West Maui. Fishing for herbivores (parrotfishes, surgeonfishes, chub, sea urchins) is prohibited within the KHFMA, as the goal is to use this form of marine management to prevent and possibly reverse shifts from coral to macroalgal domination, possibly evident on reefs at the KHFMA in recent years. The data described herein are part of an ongoing monitoring program assessing changes in fish and benthic assemblages following creation of the KHFMA.

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) has provided support for ESD staff to assist Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (HDAR) staff with maintaining long-term biological monitoring of the KHFMA, using methods implemented in pre-closure baseline surveys in 2008 by HDAR and their partners at that time.

Williams ID, White DJ, Sparks RT, Lino KC, Zamzow JP, Kelly ELA, et al. (2016) Responses of Herbivorous Fishes and Benthos to 6 Years of Protection at the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, Maui. PLoS ONE 11(7): e0159100. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159100

Surveys covered by this metadata record were gathered for the projects "Scientific support for Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, Maui" and "Quantifying processes that underpin recovery at Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (HFMA), Maui" conducted by PIFSC ESD, and funded by the CRCP in Fiscal Years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 (FY10 Project#: 20482, FY11#:F200; FY12-14# F374, FY15-19:#30102, FY21-22: #31349).

Survey rounds took place on 09/01/2009-09/04/2009, 09/13/2010-09/16/2010, 02/28/2011-03/03/2011, 9/26/2011-9/29/2011, 4/23/2012-4/26/2012, 9/24/2012-9/27/2012, 4/22/2013-4/25/2013, 9/16/2013-9/19/2013, 3/31/2014-4/30/2014, 9/22/2014-9/24/2014, 4/6/2015-4/9/2015, 9/21/2015-9/24/2015, 3/7/2016-3/10/2016. 4/5/2016 and 10/17/2016-10/20/2016, 3/5/2018-3/9/2018, 9/24/2018-9/26/2018, 11/08/2021-11/11/2021.

Also included are data gathered by HDAR at the same locations and using the same survey design and methods. Those data were gathered during two rounds: 1/22/2008-1/25/2008 and 8/18/2008-8/25/2008.

Maximum depth was 18 meters.

Published in 2016 under accession 0146683 (including data from 2008 to March 2016) that has since been deprecated and replaced by accession 0165015 in August 2017 with the updated dataset that contains the data from the original accession plus the data from surveys through October 2016. The dataset was again updated in March 2019 with data from surveys through September 2018.

Each row represents a single survey of a 25 m haphazardly located transect within the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, Maui.

Habitat types are SAG (shallow agregate reef); DAG (deep aggregate reef); MMX (mixed mid-depth reef); SSG (shallow spur and groove); DSG (deep spur and groove); and SPA (shallow pavement).

Benthic cover (%) is extracted from a photo-transect (25 photographs taken at 1-m intervals, 15+ points analyzed per photograph using image analysis softwares PhotoGrid or CoralNet). -9 values represent situations where images were either not gathered or not analyzed.

Fishes are surveyed by means of a diver swimming outward and return swims down the transects. On the outward swims, the diver records all fishes >15 cm total length (TL) within a 4-m wide belt centered on the diver; on the return swim, divers record fishes <15 cm TL within a 2-m wide belt. Fish species and size observations are converted to biomass (grams per square meter, or g/m^2) using species-specific length-weight conversion parameters. Urchins are counted on a 1-m wide belt centered on the transect line. Urchin density is calculated by the number per square meter (#/m^2).

While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.

Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, Maui

Not applicable

Not applicable

NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) Data Sharing Recommendations, version 9.0 updated August 12, 2015:

ESD welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on research issues contributing to the scientific basis for better management of marine ecosystems. ESD has a very diverse set of field activities that generates large volumes of data using an array of data collection protocols.

The following recommendations are for your consideration as you use this data:

1) Data analyses should take all field exigencies into account. The most effective way to do this would be active collaboration with ESD principal investigators.

2) In all presentations, product releases, or publications using data generated by ESD, proper acknowledgement of both ESD and the individuals responsible for data collection is expected. Citing the DOI (if available) is preferred, a non-DOI example is listed below.

3) If you collect or generate data for the same study areas, ESD requests that you share relevant information on complimentary data collections.

4) Those receiving data are strongly urged to inform the ESD Data Management Team of any errors and discrepancies that are discovered during the course of using these data. They are further urged to bring to the attention of the Team all problems and difficulties encountered in using these data. This information is necessary in order to improve the collections and to facilitate more efficient and economical data processing and retrieval. The users are asked to supply copies of any missing data that may be located, and to provide information as to significant subsets and special aggregations of data that are developed in using the material provided.

Example citation:

"This publication makes use of data products provided by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). The analysis and interpretations presented here are solely that of the current authors."

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

None

Please cite Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) and acknowledge Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (HDAR) when using the data.

Example:

Cite as: Williams, Ivor; PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (2017). Fish, Benthic and Urchin Survey Data from Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (HFMA), Maui, HI since 2008 (NCEI Accession 0165015). Version 1.1. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. [access date]

None

None

Microsoft Access database

Data are from haphazardly located surveys and are believed to be highly representative

Fish observations at each site were made by divers who have been trained, and met minimum standards in identifying species present at the survey locations and in estimating size of fishes in survey counts. However, all species identifications are made visually, sometimes in situations where a fish is only briefly seen. Observations, including species identification and sizing, were periodically checked during the expedition for consistency between divers, and little discrepancy was noted between divers. Data is checked after each survey trip, but there remains some possibility of typographical or other errors. Benthic cover estimates derived from analysis of photographs are dependent on image quality - although that was generally good, as photographs were taken at less than 1 m from the reef substrate and in generally clear water, using a high resolution (8 to 20.2 MP) digital camera. Image quality is nearly always more than sufficient for there to be high confidence in accuracy of identification of benthic genera and functional groups

The survey sites were selected using a haphazard process based on available habitat and bathymetric habitats.

The same methods of data collection were used at each of the sites surveyed at this location, and were conducted by the same scientists.

Size estimates checked against known size ranges per species

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.

Belt transect fish surveys are investigations that provide a high degree of taxonomic resolution for reef fish communities. The surveys were conducted by teams of two divers with locations haphazardly spread throughout the survey area. Transect placement was guided by: (1) a focus on hardbottom communities; (2) deploying lines along an isobath and parallel to shore.