Evaluating management strategies to optimize coral reef ecosystem services: Ecosystem Model Data for Puako, Hawaii

Coral reefs provide a wide range of ecosystem services that are valued differently by different users. Managers are challenged to comprehensively address the full suite of pressures that act simultaneously on these ecosystem state variables and dynamics. We developed a decision-support tool using an ecosystem model, Ecopath with Ecosim, that ranks the efficiency of potential management strategies in evaluating ecological and socio-economic trade-offs based on multiple indicators for coral reef ecosystem services in Puako, Hawaii Island. Our results indicate that current management is inadequate to prevent further declines in coral reef resources and that improved fishery management can mitigate the detrimental effects of expected bleaching-related coral mortalities on the ecosystem services in the next 15 years. The scenario that minimized conflicts between stakeholders was "Only Line Fishing" and to a lesser extent a reduction in fishing effort.

Results include the biomass (tons per square kilometer) for several groups of marine organisms (invertivores, coralivores, planktivores, browsers, grazers, sharks, reef fishes, sea turtles, invertebrates, corals, algae, and plankton) for 2017 and 2032 under the current and alternative management scenarios and the relative performance of the indicators under six management scenarios in 2032 and compared to current management.

The data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4sh45

The main objective of this study was to explore the performance of land-based and fishery management scenarios in terms of their ability to reverse local declines in condition, to improve the provision of ecosystem services that benefit human users, and to enhance the long-term future of the local reef.

Planned publication in 2018:

Weijerman M, J. Gove, ID Williams, WJ Walsh, D Minton, J. Polovina (In prep), Evaluating management strategies to optimize ecosystem services provided by coral reefs. Target Journal: Journal of Applied Ecology

Each column of the model input and output tables are described in the entities. The output data include the biomass (tons per sq. kilometer) for several groups of marine organisms for 2017 and 2032 under the current and alternative management scenarios and the relative performance of the indicators under six management scenarios in 2032 and compared to current management.

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 warranty.

Puako, Hawaii

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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 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The analysis and interpretations presented here are solely that of the current authors.”

Model input and output data can currently be obtained by the author, and has also been submitted to the Dryad repository. The data package has been approved, and will be available in the Dryad repository once the associated article has been published.

Title: Data from: Evaluating management strategies to optimize coral reef ecosystem services

DOI: doi:10.5061/dryad.4sh45

Journal: Journal of Applied Ecology

Journal manuscript number: JAPPL-2017-00655

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Please cite NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) when using the data.

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Model input and outputs (Excel files) were generated using Ecopath with Ecosim version 6.4.3.

Model output data provide a range of potential answers based on the available data and should not be used for tactical management

Model dynamics were validated with a hindcast simulation (1980-2016). Reconstructed linear catch time series per gear type from 1980 and 2007 were loaded into Ecosim for validation and to fine-tune the model by adjusting fishing effort and so minimize the residuals between predicted and observed fish biomass and fish landings temporal data points (from DAR and TNC) using a least-square fitting criterion.

Model data is stored on an external hard drive and backed up to a server at PIFSC weekly by the data steward. Data on the PIFSC server are managed by NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS.

Input data was collected for the Ecopath with Ecosim model (EwE) from Hayes et al (1982). Vital rates and diet came from Weijerman et al (2013). Model validation data was supplied by the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (POC Dr. WJ Walsh) and the Nature Conservancy (POC D. Minton). The model output data are generated with the EwE model. All steps are available in Weijerman et al (in prep) J Applied Ecology.