National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Coral Demography (Adult and Juvenile Corals) across the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2014 to 2018

Phoenix (Baker and Howland) and Line Islands (Jarvis, Kingman, and Palmyra), and Johnston Atoll. These six of the seven PRIA are routinely surveyed as part of the American Samoa RAMP (ASRAMP) missions (Johnston, Baker and Howland during the first leg of ASRAMP, and Jarvis, Kingman, and Palmyra during the last leg of ASRAMP).

Wake Island, one of the seven PRIA, is routinely surveyed as part of the Mariana Archipelago RAMP (MARAMP) missions.

Jarvis Island

ASRAMP 2015, Leg 3, U.S. Line Islands (Palmyra, Kingman, and Jarvis).

MARAMP 2014, Leg I, Wake Atoll

ASRAMP 2015, Leg 1, Johnston Atoll, and the U.S. Phoenix Islands (Baker and Howland).

Surveys at Jarvis Island

MARAMP 2017 Leg 1 surveys at Wake

MARAMP 2017 Leg 1 surveys at Jarvis

ASRAMP 2018, Leg 1, U.S. Phoenix Islands (Baker and Howland).

ASRAMP 2018, last leg, U.S. Line islands, including Jarvis, Kingman and Palmyra

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program. Benthic REA monitoring summary : Jarvis Island, 2016. PIFSC data report DR-17-006. http://dx.doi.org/10.7289/V5/DR-PIFSC-17-006

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program. Benthic REA monitoring summary : Wake Atoll, 2017. PIFSC data report DR-17-034. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/DR-PIFSC-17-034

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program. Benthic REA monitoring summary : Jarvis Island, 2017. PIFSC data report DR-17-035. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/DR-PIFSC-17-035

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program. Benthic REA monitoring summary : Howland and Baker Islands (Line Islands), 2017. PIFSC data report DR-17-038. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/DR-PIFSC-17-038

Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program benthic monitoring summary: Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument 2018. PIFSC Data Report DR-18-017. https://doi.org/10.25923/sgyt-y890

Ecosystem Sciences Division Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Benthic Surveys. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-PIFSC-71, 63 p. https://doi.org/10.25923/39jh-8993

Winston M, Couch C, Ferguson M, Huntington B, Swanson D, Vargas-Ángel B. 2019. Ecosystem Sciences Division Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Benthic Surveys, 2018 Update. NOAA Tech. Memo. NOAA-TM-NMFS-PIFSC-92, 66 p. doi:10.25923/w1k2-0y84

https://doi.org/10.25923/w1k2-0y84

List of coral genera surveyed in the Pacific Remote Island Areas

List of coral species surveyed in the Pacific Remote Island Areas

Adult coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2015 (HA1501).

Presence / absence from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2015 (HA1501).

Juvenile coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2015 (HA1501).

Adult coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Wake Island in 2014 (HA1401).

Presence / absence from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Wake Island in 2014 (HA1401).

Juvenile coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Wake Island in 2014 (HA1401).

List of coral genera surveyed at Wake Island

List of coral species surveyed at Wake Island

List of coral genera surveyed in the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2016

List of coral species surveyed in the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2016.

Adult coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Jarvis Island in 2016 (SE1602).

Presence / absence from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Jarvis Island in 2016 (SE1602).

Juvenile coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Jarvis Island in 2016 (SE1602).

List of coral genera surveyed at Jarvis and Wake Islands in 2017.

List of coral species surveyed at Jarvis and Wake Islands in 2017

Adult coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Wake and Jarvis in 2017 (HA1701).

Presence / absence from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Wake and Jarvis in 2017 (HA1701).

Juvenile coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted across Wake and Jarvis in 2017 (HA1701).

List of coral genera surveyed in the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2018 that divers are confident in identifying and that the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) has used to generate benthic estimates.

List of coral species surveyed in the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2018 that divers are confident in identifying and that the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) has used to generate benthic estimates.

Adult coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) conducted across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2018 (HA1801).

Juvenile coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of stratified random sites by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) conducted across the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2018 (HA1801).

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) ERDDAP web service for coral demographic data of adult corals collected by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) during ESD-led NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions to the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014.

ERDDAP acts as a middleman between you and various remote data servers. ERDDAP offers an easy-to-use, consistent way to request data: via the OPeNDAP standard. Many datasets can also be accessed via ERDDAP's Web Map Service (WMS). ERDDAP returns data in the common file format of your choice. ERDDAP offers all data as .html table, ESRI .asc and .csv, Google Earth .kml, OPeNDAP binary, .mat, .nc, ODV .txt, .csv, .tsv, .json, and .xhtml. ERDDAP can also return a .png or .pdf image with a customized graph or map. ERDDAP also has web pages (for humans with browsers) and RESTful web services (for computer programs).

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) ERDDAP web service for coral demographic data of juvenile corals collected by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) during ESD-led NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions to the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014.

ERDDAP acts as a middleman between you and various remote data servers. ERDDAP offers an easy-to-use, consistent way to request data: via the OPeNDAP standard. Many datasets can also be accessed via ERDDAP's Web Map Service (WMS). ERDDAP returns data in the common file format of your choice. ERDDAP offers all data as .html table, ESRI .asc and .csv, Google Earth .kml, OPeNDAP binary, .mat, .nc, ODV .txt, .csv, .tsv, .json, and .xhtml. ERDDAP can also return a .png or .pdf image with a customized graph or map. ERDDAP also has web pages (for humans with browsers) and RESTful web services (for computer programs).

NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands website

NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website.

NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands website

NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) Benthic Monitoring Briefs available for FTP download for surveys starting in 2016. Monitoring briefs provide timely release of a summary overview of monitoring effort and preliminary data following a research expedition led by ESD, including Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program cruises and other missions. This type of report is intended as an initial and provisional summary of the data collected, and the information contained in these briefs is subject to change.

Survey protocol

A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems in the region (two-stage StRS from 2014 to 2017 and switched to a one-stage StRS design in 2018. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats. The stratification scheme included island, reef zone, and depth. Depth categories of shallow (>0-6 m), mid (>6-18 m) and deep (>8-30 m) were also incorporated into the stratification scheme. Allocation of sampling effort was proportional to strata area. Sites were randomly selected within each stratum.

A geographic information system (GIS) and digital spatial databases of benthic habitats (NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science NCCOS), reef zones (IKONOS satellite imagery, NDGC 1998) bathymetry (NDGC 1998, ESD benthic mapping data), and marine reserve boundaries (NOAA) were used to facilitate spatial delineation of the sampling survey domain, strata, and sample units. Map resolution was such that the survey domain could be overlain by a grid using a GIS with individual cells of size 50 m by 50 m in area. The two-stage sampling scheme following Cochran (1977) was employed to control for spatial variation in population parameters at scales smaller than the grid cell minimum mapping unit (2,500 sq. meters). Grid cells containing hard-bottom reef habitats were designated as primary sample units (referred to as sites), while the second-stage sample unit was defined as a diver visual belt transect of fixed area (10 sq. meters or less). The primary sample units were the same for both sampling schemes (one-stage and two-stage).

At each site, benthic Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys were conducted within two 10 sq. meter belt transects from 2014 to 2017 and within one 10 sq. meter transect starting in 2018. Transects were 18 meters in length. Adult coral colonies (>=5 cm) were surveyed within four (1.0 x 2.5 m) segments at 5 meter increments along the 18 meter transect in the following manner: 0-2.5 m (segment 1); 5.0-7.5 m (segment 3); 10-12.5 m (segment 5); and 15 - 17.5 m (segment 7). All colonies whose center fell within 0.5 m on either side of each transect line were identified to lowest taxonomic level possible (species or genus), measured for size (maximum diameter to nearest cm), and morphology was noted. In addition, partial mortality and condition of each colony was assessed. Partial mortality was estimated as percent of the colony in terms of old dead and recent dead. The cause of recent mortality was identified if possible. The condition of each colony including disease (not attributed to recent tissue loss) and bleaching was noted along with the extent (percent of colony affected) and level of severity (range from moderate to acute). The lowest taxonomic level of coral identification was genus except for a select number of species consistently identified to species by all divers conducting the surveys. The number of species may change for each survey year depending on the experience and training of the benthic divers conducting the surveys. The list of coral species is included for each survey year.

Within the same four segments per transect as the adult coral surveys, crustose coralline algae (CCA) diseases and Alcyonarian disease are surveyed. In each segment, each occurrence of a specific disease is identified and the lesion is measured (maximum diameter).

In addition to the adult coral surveys, CCA diseases, and Alcyonarian disease, the presence of other Anthozoans (other cnidarians including Alcyonareans, Zoantharians, coralliomorphs and Antipatharians) are also noted. These data exist as individual records coded for each group. This portion of the survey was not conducted in 2018.

Juvenile coral colonies (<5 cm) were surveyed within three (1.0 x 1.0 m) segments along the same two transects from 2014 to 2017 or along the single transect in 2018: 0-1.0 m (segment 1); 5.0-6.0 m (segment 3); and 10.0-11.0 m (segment 5). Juvenile colonies were distinguished in the field by a distinct tissue and skeletal boundary (not a fragment of a larger colony). Each juvenile colony was identified to lowest taxonomic level (genus or species) and measured for size by recording both the maximum and perpendicular diameter to the nearest 2 mm.

Raw data include individual colony records with the corresponding physical data which reflect the description of the site. An individual colony record for adult corals includes colony species/genus identification, morphology, maximum diameter (cm), percent old dead, percent recent dead, cause of recent dead general category, cause of recent dead specific category, condition, extent and severity.

Juvenile coral colony records include colony species/genus identification, morphology, maximum diameter (cm) and perpendicular diameter (cm).

For species level identification of adult and juvenile corals, check the species list for each year to ensure species identification across all divers conducting the surveys.

Individual records for crustose coralline algae diseases use the taxon code CALG and the Alcyonarian disease uses the taxon code for the octocoral genus. The colony length measurement is the maximum diameter of the lesion for both disease types.

The raw presence/absence data for other Anthozoans include the general identification code and 0 or -1 to represent absence or presence respectively.

The physical data for all records includes the following: region, island, site, date (day, month, year), latitude (dd), longitude (dd), transect, segment, segment length, segment width, minimum depth (ft), and maximum depth.