Coral reef fish biomass and benthic cover data from Timor-Leste in June 2013

Coral reef fish and benthos were surveyed at 150 shallow-water coral reef sites across the north coast of Timor-Leste and around Atauro Island in June 2013 during a 21-day survey mission. This project was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center's Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) using consistent methods, survey design, and personnel.

Fish biomass and benthic cover were estimated at all survey sites using the stationary point count (SPC) method. The SPC method catalogs the diversity (species richness), abundance (numeric density) and biomass (fish mass per unit area) of diurnally active reef fish assemblages in shallow-water (less than 30 m) hard-bottom habitats. Visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic complexity are also recorded, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed, similar to surveys conducted by NOAA CREP of the coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S.-Pacific regions.

The goal of the survey work was to generate baseline data on the nearshore coral reef fish assemblages and associated benthic communities around Timor-Leste's north coast and Atauro Island. Surveys were concentrated around these areas due to (1) limited time and resources, but also (2) low water visibility and safety concerns for potential dive survey operations along the south shore. In addition to the visual observations of reef fish and the associated benthos, photographs of the seafloor were taken using a photoquadrat method and were later analyzed for benthic cover. These two additional datasets are documented separately.

The reef fish and benthic estimate data collected during the 2013 mission in Timor-Leste can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

In 2011, NOAA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Timor-Leste Mission formed a 5-year bi-lateral partnership agreement from 2012 to 2016, in support of the Government of Timor-Leste—particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF)—by addressing significant information gaps in their nearshore marine ecosystems. Specifically, MAF asked NOAA to address the following questions:

1. Where are the nearshore marine resources?

2. What are the nearshore marine resources?

3. How are they changing over time and what threats are potentially causing these changes?

4. What approaches are needed to manage and conserve the nearshore marine resources?

With financial support from USAID and in-kind support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (NOAA-CREP) conducted baseline ecosystem assessment surveys to inform ecosystem-based management planning in Timor-Leste. The primary activities conducted by NOAA to answer these questions included:

1. satellite mapping of nearshore habitats,

2. conducting coral reef ecosystem assessments,

3. establishing ecological baselines for climate change, and

4. building management capacity by developing a spatial data framework

The reef fish survey data described herein resulted from the second activity to conduct coral reef ecosystem assessments.

McCoy K, Ayotte P, Gray A, Lino K, Schumacher B, Sudnovsky M. 2015. Coral reef fish biomass and benthic cover along the north coast of Timor-Leste based on underwater visual surveys in June 2013. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Data Report, DR-15-004, 18 p. + Appendices. doi:10.7289/v5k0728f.

and

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. 2017. Interdisciplinary baseline ecosystem assessment surveys to inform ecosystem-based management planning in Timor-Leste: Final Report. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Special Publication, SP-17-002, 234 p. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/SP-PIFSC-17-002.

As the survey methods described and used herein are also implemented as part of the NOAA Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP)—an ecosystem-scale interdisciplinary coral reef monitoring program—the data from Timor-Leste are directly comparable to and informed by data collected by NOAA-CREP throughout the U.S. Pacific Islands and Territories. Furthermore, the methods used for establishing ecological baselines for climate change in Timor-Leste (Chapter 4) are being adopted and implemented at 21 sites across eight member states of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission within the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) region. These data provide a foundation for comparing the ecological baselines under current and future stresses associated with climate change in the Coral Triangle region.

Raw survey data includes metadata for each survey (where, when, who, area); site characteristics (depth, reef type, habitat, benthic cover); individual reef fish observations identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (usually species) including size, count, and observation type; and parameters needed to calculate biomass and density, which are also included.

For the benthic estimate data:

Habitat types are AGR (aggregate reef); MIX (mixed habitats); PAV (pavement); ROB (rock/boulder); RRB (reef rubble); and SCR (sand with scattered coral/rock). Slope and substrate height were also recorded.

Observed functional groups are as follows: hard (scleractinian) corals, macroalgae, crustose coralline algae, turf algae, sand, tunicate, zoanthic, corallimorph, clam, cyanobacteria, sponge, and upright soft coral. The percent cover of each of these groups was visually estimated, and the sum of the values for each record in the dataset is 100%. Urchins were recorded using the DACOR method, an abundance code based on visual estimation (dominant, abundant, common, occasional, and rare).

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.

Extent of reef fish surveys conducted by NOAA CREP at Timor-Leste in June 2013.

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NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) Data Sharing Recommendations, version 9.0 updated August 12, 2015:

CREP welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on research issues contributing to the scientific basis for better management of marine ecosystems. CREP 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 CREP principal investigators.

2) In all presentations, product releases, or publications using data generated by CREP, proper acknowledgement of both CREP 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, CREP requests that you share relevant information on complimentary data collections.

4) Those receiving data are strongly urged to inform the CREP 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 acknowledgment:

"This publication makes use of data products gathered by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Timor-Leste. 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.

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Please cite NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) and acknowledge the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Timor-Leste when using the data.

Suggested citation:

Coral Reef Ecosystem Program; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2017). Coral reef fish biomass and benthic cover data from Timor-Leste in June 2013. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/32998.

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PIFSC Oracle database view: V0_FISH_REA

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

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. Visual estimates of benthic cover are useful as broad indication of the reef benthic assemblages present at each survey site, but there is considerable scope for error in rapid diver estimates of this kind.

For most NOAA CREP reef fish assessments, survey allocation is determined by area of hard-bottom reef habitat within 3 depth ranges; shallow (0–6 m), mid (6–18 m), and deep (18–30 m). The deep area of reef habitat was not surveyed as a result of safety restrictions set by the NOAA dive program. Also, surveys were not conducted along the south shore of Timor-Leste due to (1) limited time and resources, and also (2) low water visibility and safety concerns.

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

Observations, including species identification and sizing, were periodically checked during the expedition for consistency between divers, such as diver bias or other discrepancies, and little discrepancy was noted. Size estimates were checked against known size ranges per species. Data entry was conducted using a data entry interface with several data controls employed, and were quality controlled by the divers using a two-person system.

Following the mission, the data was then run through rigorous quality control checks by the data management team before the data were migrated to the Oracle database, but there remains some possibility of typographical or other errors.

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.

All sites were surveyed using CREP's standard coral reef fish assemblage survey method, stationary point counts (SPC). The current SPC protocol involves pairs of divers recording the number, size, and species of all fishes observed within visually estimated cylinders 15 m in diameter. At the start of a survey dive, a pair of divers first lay down a 30-m transect line along a predetermined depth contour, and then the two divers move to the 7.5- and 22.5-m marks on that line; these marks serve as the centers of two adjacent SPC cylinders. During the first 5 min of a survey, the divers create a list of the fish species observed in or passing through their cylinder. After the first 5 min, divers systematically proceed down their species lists, counting and estimating the size (TL) of each fish present to the nearest centimeter. Species seen after the 5 min or outside of the survey area are recorded as present.