National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Complexity and Urchin Abundance at Climate Stations in the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2014 to 2018

Benthic complexity and urchin abundance data were collected as part of NOAA's ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). These data were gathered around the Pacific Remote Island Areas as a part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led missions from 2014 to 2018.

During these missions, the variables of benthic complexity and urchin abundance were recorded by SCUBA divers during visual surveys at NCRMP climate stations. A select number of climate sites were chosen per island in hard-bottom habitat at 15-m depths in a stratified random fashion.

To record benthic complexity, the divers ran a 15-m transect from the reference stake for the site and estimated two maximum vertical relief measurements per meter along the 15-m transect (based on an area of 0.5 m x 1 m to the left and 0.5 m x 1 m to the right of each meter on the transect) for a total of 30 measurements. The measurements were tallied into five substrate height bins, including 0-20 cm, 20-50 cm, 50-100 cm, 100-150 cm, and >150 cm. The total frequency for the five substrate height bins is 30 units for a 15-m transect. Maximum depth, minimum depth, and maximum vertical relief were also recorded for the climate station.

Free and boring urchin abundance was estimated within the climate station and recorded using DACOR, an abundance code based on visual estimation; dominant (D), abundant (A), common (C), occasional (O), and rare (R).

Structural complexity is known to be an important component in coral reef ecosystems. Ecosystem relationships that correlate with structural complexity include reef fish density and biomass, live and branching coral cover, urchin abundance and algal cover (Graham and Nash 2013). In many cases, the benthic complexity is an important indicator of benthic and fish communities.

The NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) details a long term approach to provide an ecosystem perspective via monitoring climate, fish, benthic, and socioeconomic variables in a consistent and integrated manner. The NCRMP coordinates various NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) biological, physical, and human dimensions activities into a cohesive NOAA-wide effort. Through the implementation of the NCRMP, NOAA is able to clearly and concisely communicate results of national-scale monitoring to national, state, and territorial policy makers, resource managers, and the public on a periodic basis.

NCRMP 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 consolidates 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 Ecosystem Sciences Division at NOAA Fisheries is leading climate monitoring in the U.S. Pacific Islands Region.

The climate component of NCRMP in the Pacific provides a comprehensive view of climate change impacts on coral reef ecosystems and helps identify areas of resilience and vulnerability. The key indicators used to identify and monitor climate-driven trends include 1) thermal stress caused by changes in sea temperature, 2) ocean acidification resulting from changes in carbonate chemistry, and 3) ecological impacts by collecting data on coral growth rates, erosion, and community structure to understand the impacts of thermal stress and ocean acidification on the ecosystem. Each year, ESD scientists work closely with CRCP and partners during Pacific RAMP missions to collect data using moored oceanographic (subsurface temperature recorders) and ecological (calcification accretion units [CAUs] and autonomous reef monitoring structures [ARMS]) instruments stationed at fixed sites in the Pacific Ocean, and water samples collected by divers. The in-situ data and satellite-based observations are also used in modeling efforts. Innovative analysis techniques are used to develop products that give fellow scientists, managers, decision makers and the public a better understanding of a region's resources and how they are changing over time.

Updated March 2019 to add data collected in 2018

Raw survey data includes metadata for each survey; frequency of topographic complexity; and a measure of urchin abundance.

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.

Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) including Baker, Howland, Jarvis, and Wake islands, Kingman Reef, and Johnston and Palmyra atolls.

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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 (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.

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Please cite PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) when using the data.

Suggested citation:

Ecosystem Sciences Division; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2019). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Complexity and Urchin Abundance at Climate Stations of the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2014 to 2018. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36100.

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PIFSC Oracle database view: V0_TOPOGRAPHIC_COMPLEXITY

Observations at each site were made by divers who have been trained in the benthic complexity and urchin abundance estimate protocols. Between years there may be some variance in the location of the transect tape due to oceanographic conditions. Visual estimates of abundance are useful as a broad indication of the urchin assemblages present at each survey site, but there is scope for error in diver estimates of this type.

The benthic complexity surface relief measurements are recorded as frequencies and binned into 1 of 5 classification categories (0-20 cm, 20-50 cm, 50-100 cm, 100-150 cm, >150 cm).

DACOR (dominant, abundant, common, occasional, rare) abundance codes are used to quantify urchins in the NCRMP climate station. The number of free urchins and boring urchins within the climate station is visually estimated.

Only sites classified as NCRMP climate stations / permanent sites were surveyed in shallow water (0-30 m depths) hard-bottom habitats for benthic complexity and urchin abundance data. The data are complete as entered. Any null values recorded are due to an incomplete field survey and not by omission.

Survey methods were consistent across all sites.

The data is entered in an MS Excel spreadsheet, then quality controlled against the physical data sheets prior to the data considered final. Upon completion of the cruise, the data is migrated to Oracle database during which any errors are flagged based on pre-defined criteria.

The data is captured in several locations: physical data sheets, MS Excel spreadsheets, and PIFSC Oracle database. The physical data sheets are housed at PIFSC. The MS Excel spreadsheets area regularly backed up by the cruise data manager while at sea. The PIFSC Oracle database is regularly backed up by PIFSC ITS.

Benthic complexity (i.e., substrate height) and urchin abundance survey method employed by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) since 2013. ESD's use of the 5-category method for benthic complexity was adapted from the University on North Carolina at Wilmington’s Protocol for Measuring Topographic Complexity. The category delineations for benthic complexity and urchin abundance are the same as those employed by ESD's fish team.