Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Reef Fish, including Benthic Estimate Data at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from...

The stationary point count (nSPC) method was used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of NOAA's Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) from 2008 to 2012. Stationary point count is a non-invasive underwater survey method that 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. Starting in 2010, visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic structural complexity were also recorded, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S.-Pacific regions. For all regions, the survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats and the stratification included island, reef zone, and depth, with the exception of the Main Hawaiian Islands that included habitat structure type as well. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area and variability.

At each REA survey site, 1 or 2 nSPC fish surveys were conducted, with each survey being carried out by a pair of divers each recording the number, size and species of all fishes within adjacent 15-m diameter cylinders. Benthic estimates were recorded at the end of the fish surveys.

Reef fish and benthic estimate data provided in this data set were collected during stationary point count surveys as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led Pacific RAMP cruises. Data collected as part of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument funded research cruises in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2012 are also included as these data were funded separately from but are complementary to the Pacific RAMP data collected by ESD.

The Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP), established by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) and supported by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), was tasked with documenting and understanding the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems in the U.S. Pacific. Pacific RAMP involved interdisciplinary monitoring of oceanographic conditions and biological surveys of organisms associated with hard-bottomed habitats in the 0-30 m depth range. Regions were surveyed on a biennial cycle and aimed to support integrated, consistent and comparable monitoring of coral reefs across all U.S.-affiliated regions.

Updated 11/2018: Added data collected during monument-led cruises in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Updated 4/20/2020: added OBIS data portal.

Ayotte P, McCoy K, Williams I, Zamzow J. 2011. Coral Reef Ecosystem Division standard operating procedures: data collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment fish surveys. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Administrative Report H-11-08, 24 p.

Ayotte, P. , K. McCoy, A. Heenan, I. Williams, and J. Zamzow. 2015. Coral reef ecosystem program standard operating procedures: data collection for rapid ecological assessment fish surveys. Pacific Islands Fish. Sci. Cent., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA, Honolulu, HI 96818-5007. Pacific Islands Fish. Sci. Cent. Admin. Rep. H-15-07, 33 p. doi:10.7289/V5SN06ZT

The data described was collected as part of the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP), which pre-dates the establishment of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2013, which is a framework for conducting sustained observations of biological, climate, and socioeconomic indicators at 10 priority coral reefs across the U.S. and its territories. This integrated approach will consolidate monitoring of coral reefs under a uniform method in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. NCRMP is funded by the CRCP and supported by NOAA Fisheries, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), and many other partners. The PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division at NOAA Fisheries is leading biological monitoring of coral reefs in the U.S. Pacific Islands 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.

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.

Mariana Archipelago

American Samoa

Hawaiian Archipelago

Pacific Remote Island Areas

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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 citation:

"This publication makes use of data products provided by the Ecosystem Sciences Division, 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.

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Please cite PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division when using the data.

Example:

Ecosystem Sciences Division; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2018). Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Reef Fish, including Benthic Estimate Data at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2007 to 2012. NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34515.

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PIFSC Oracle database view: V0_FISH_REA

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.

The rep is the basic survey unit; however, the data are pooled to site level. Site level is the quantification limit.

Only shallow water (0 to 30 meter depth range) hard-bottom habitats are surveyed. The survey sites were randomly selected using a systematic process based on available habitat and bathymetric data. Although efforts are made to include broad spatial coverage of surveys at each island, weather conditions and other environmental constraints may have prevented the team from surveying exposed reef areas.

The same methods of data collection are used at each surveyed site, and periodic examination of the data is conducted throughout each mission to check for diver bias or other discrepancies.

Observations, including species identification and sizing, are periodically checked during expeditions for consistency between divers. Data entry is usually conducted on the same day as the surveys using a data entry interface with several data controls employed, and are quality controlled by the divers using a two-person system. Following a mission, the data is then run through rigorous quality control checks by the data management team before the data are migrated to the Oracle database. Given the size of the data set, there remains some possibility of typographical or other errors.

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.

Stationary Point Count survey of coral reef fish methodology, employed by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument since 2007.