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Short Citation:
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, 2024: Biogeographic Characterization of Fish Communities within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2006 - 2007), https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39307.

Item Identification

Title: Biogeographic Characterization of Fish Communities within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2006 - 2007)
Short Name: fgb_fish_1107
Status: Completed
Publication Date: 2006-10
Abstract:

The overarching goal of this collaboration was to provide the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) staff with information on biogeographic patterns within the Sanctuary. This specific project focused on the development of a plan to spatially and quantitatively characterize the fish communities in relatively shallow waters throughout the Sanctuary (less than 110 ft). This collaboration also included the initial implementation of that plan. The FGBNMS represents the northernmost tropical western Atlantic coral reef on the continental shelf and support the most highly developed offshore hard bank community in the region. The complexity of habitats supports a diverse assemblage of organisms including approximately 250 species of fish, 23 species of coral, and 80 species of algae in addition to large sponge communities. Understanding and monitoring these resources is critical to both sanctuary inventory and management activities.Monitoring of the biological communities has taken place at FGBNMS since the 1970s. This work has focused primarily on monitoring the benthos with video transects and photostations documenting transitions between coral, algae and sponge communities over time. Until relatively recently, little has been done to monitor or characterize the reef fish community. In 1994 the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) began surveys of the Sanctuary and utilized a combination of REEF personnel, volunteers, and Sanctuary staff to visually census reef fish populations via roving diver surveys. These surveys have been invaluable in terms of species list development and understanding the ranges of these species. Subsequently, a stationary point-count survey technique was utilized to begin to quantify community metrics such as species abundance and trophic structure at selected locations. These data provide an important starting point for characterizing the fish community; however, they are limited in scope of inference to small portions of the Sanctuary coral cap environment and are therefore difficult to utilize in developing population estimates at the scale of the Sanctuary.

Purpose:

1) To design a sampling strategy that will quantify in a spatially robust manner the status of the benthic fish community associated with the diveable portion of the coral cap regions (less than 110 ft) within the Sanctuary; 2) To carry out the initial implementation of this sampling strategy; 3) To develop a GIS based tool that will assist with the implementation of both strategies including site selection; 4)To relate the data collected describing the fish communities to data concurrently collected on associated benthic composition; and 5) To analyze the information gathered to help guide sanctuary resource management decisions.

Notes:

370

Supplemental Information:

This work was conducted in collaboration with the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
ISO 19115 Topic Category
biota
ISO 19115 Topic Category
environment
ISO 19115 Topic Category
oceans
UNCONTROLLED
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus Numeric Data Sets > Biology
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species richness
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Monitoring and assessment
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Reef fish census > Belt transect
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Reef fish census > Linear transect
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish > Fish assemblages
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish > Fish Census
NOS Data Explorer Topic Category Environmental Monitoring
None coral reef fishes

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Texas > East Flower Garden Banks (27N093W0001)
CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Texas > West Flower Garden Banks (27N093W0002)
CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Gulf of Mexico > Flower Garden Banks > East Flower Garden Banks (27N093W0001)
CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Gulf of Mexico > Flower Garden Banks > West Flower Garden Banks (27N093W0002)

Physical Location

Organization: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
City: Silver Spring
State/Province: MD

Data Set Information

Data Set Scope Code: Data Set
Maintenance Frequency: As Needed
Entity Attribute Overview:

We supply abundance and size information of fish species at the lowest possible taxonomic level across all diveable portions of the coral caps within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). In addition, we provide photographs of many of the taxa. For specific information please see the data dictionary available on the database website.

Entity Attribute Detail Citation:

NOAA/NCCOS/CCMA/Biogeography Branch

Distribution Liability:

These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.NOAA makes no warranty regarding these data, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA can not assume liability for and damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to function on a particular system.

Data Set Credit: This is a cooperative effort between NOAA/NCCOS/CCMA Biogeography Branch and NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries Program

Support Roles

Data Steward

CC ID: 465181
Date Effective From: 2006-10
Date Effective To:
Contact (Position): NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator
Email Address: NCCOS.data@noaa.gov

Distributor

CC ID: 465183
Date Effective From: 2006-10
Date Effective To:
Contact (Position): NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator
Email Address: NCCOS.data@noaa.gov

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 465184
Date Effective From: 2006-10
Date Effective To:
Contact (Position): NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator
Email Address: NCCOS.data@noaa.gov

Point of Contact

CC ID: 465182
Date Effective From: 2006-10
Date Effective To:
Contact (Position): NCCOS Scientific Data Coordinator
Email Address: NCCOS.data@noaa.gov

Principal Investigator

CC ID: 465185
Date Effective From: 2006-10
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Clark, Randy
Address: 1021 Balch Blvd
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529
Email Address: randy.clark@noaa.gov
Phone: 228-688-3732

Extents

Currentness Reference: Ground Condition

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 465188
W° Bound: -93.82
E° Bound: -93.59
N° Bound: 27.92
S° Bound: 27.87

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 465187
Time Frame Type: Range
Start: 2006-09
End: 2007-09

Access Information

Security Class: Unclassified
Data Access Procedure:

Please contact the Flower Garden Banks NMSP Science Coordinator for additional information on data access (FGBScience.Coordinator@noaa.gov);

Data Access Constraints:

None

Data Use Constraints:

Please reference NOAA/NCCOS/CCMA/Biogeography Branch when utilizing these data in a report or peer reviewed publication. Additionally, knowledge of how this dataset has been of use and which organizations are utilizing it is of great benefit for ensuring this information continues to meet the needs of the management and research communities. Therefore, it is requested but not mandatory, that any user of these data supply this information to the Program Manager: Randy Clark (email: Randy.Clark@noaa.gov).

URLs

URL 1

CC ID: 465179
URL: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/ecosystems/sanctuaries/fgb_nms/
URL Type:
Online Resource

URL 2

CC ID: 465180
URL: http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/biogeo_public/reef_photos.aspx
URL Type:
Online Resource

Activity Log

Activity Log 1

CC ID: 465209
Activity Date/Time: 2017-03-29
Description:

Date that the source FGDC record was last modified.

Activity Log 2

CC ID: 465208
Activity Date/Time: 2017-04-05
Description:

Converted from Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (version FGDC-STD-001-1998) using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml.pl' script. Contact Tyler Christensen (NOS) for details.

Data Quality

Completeness Report:

These data consist of multiple fish community surveys across all diveable portions of the coral caps within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). For 2006, sites were randomly selected within strata (East and West Bank and flat and steep slope). For 2007, sites were randomly selected within strata (East and West Bank, low and high relief coral and depth).

Conceptual Consistency:

Not applicable

Lineage

Process Steps

Process Step 1

CC ID: 465176
Description:

A stratified random sampling design was employed to sample fish on the coral cap communities of the East and West Flower Garden Banks. The survey domain at each coral cap was designated as all areas shallower than 110 feet below sea level. Fine-scale (0.5 m) bathymetric data provided by the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary was used to ascertain depths and slope. In 2006, the survey domain was partitioned into flat/gentle sloping (0-30 degrees) and steep sloping (>30 degrees) area and into East and West Banks. A continuous surface of slope estimates was produced for each Bank using a nearest neighbor filter on an aggregated resolution (5m X 5m) bathymetric grid derived from the original bathymetric dataset in ArcGIS (ESRI, 2006). The combination of two slope and two location groupings resulted in four strata. Survey sites were then randomly positioned in each stratum in ArcGIS (ESRI, 2006). Data were collected using 100m2 transects. Transects radiated from each point at a random bearing. In 2007, a sample frame consisting of mutually-exclusive 50m X 50m grid cells was produced and overlaid on each coral cap to exhaustively cover all diveable areas (i.e less than 110ft). Each grid cell was considered a sample unit and units were divided into six strata. Strata were defined using benthic habitat, location and depth. High (dominated by plate and head corals) and low relief (dominated by Madracis and rubble) coral categories were determined using a benthic habitat map generated by visual interpretation of multibeam data. Units were divided into deep (>105 ft) and shallow (less than 105ft) groups based on the location of sampling unit centroids on multibeam bathymetric models. Location and high relief coral categories were divided by depth, low relief coral was not. Data were collected within 100m2 transects. Transects radiated from the centroid of each sample unit at a random bearing.Once in the field, the boat captain navigated to previously selected sites using a handheld GPS unit. On-site, divers were deployed and maintained contact with each other throughout the entire census. One diver was responsible for collecting data on the fish communities utilizing the belt-transect visual census technique over an area of 100m2 (25m length X 4m width). The belt-transect diver obtained a random compass heading for the transect prior to entering the water and recorded the compass bearing (0-360o) on the data sheet. Visibility at each site must be sufficient to allow for identification of fish at a minimum of 2m away. Once reasonable visibility was ascertained, the diver attached a tape measure to the substrate and allowed it to roll out for 25m while they collected data.As a rule, the habitat was not altered in any manner by lifting or moving structure, however, the observer did record fish seen in holes, under ledges and in the water column. To identify, enumerate, or locate new individuals, divers moved off the centerline of the transect as long as they stayed within the 4m transect width and did not look back along area already covered. The diver was allowed to look forward toward the end of the transect for the distance remaining (i.e. if the diver was at meter 15, he can look 10 meters distant, but if he was at meter 23, he could only look 2 meters ahead).On-site, no attempt to avoid structural features within a habitat such as a sand patch or an anchor was made as these features affect fish communities and are "real" features of the habitats. The only instance where the transect deviated from the designated path was to stay above 110 ft. Transect lasted 15 minutes regardless of habitat type or number of animals present. This allowed more mobile animals the opportunity to swim through the transect, and standardized the samples collected to allow for comparisons. (continued)

Process Date/Time: 2007-09-01 00:00:00

Process Step 2

CC ID: 465177
Description:

(continued from above) Data were collected on the following: 1) Logistic information - diver name, dive buddy, date, time of survey, site code, transect bearing. 2) Taxa presence - as the tape roles out at a relatively constant speed, the diver records all fish species to the lowest taxonomic level possible that come within 2m of either side of the transect. To decrease the total time spent writing, four letter codes are used that consist of the first two letters of the genus name followed by the first two letters of the species name. In the rare case that two species have the same four-letter code, letters are added to the species name until a difference occurs. If the fish can only be identified to the family or genus level then this is all that is recorded. If the fish cannot be identified to the family level then no entry is necessary. 3) Abundance and size - the number of individuals per species is tallied in 5cm size class increments up to 35cm using visual estimation of fork length. If an individual is greater than 35cm, then an estimate of the actual fork length is recorded. 4) Photos ? individuals too difficult to identify or unique in some manner may be photographed for later clarification. Data caveats: The mission in 2007 was aborted early due to Hurricane Humberto (September 2007). No sites were surveyed on the West Bank and only a subset of the sample of random sites selected on the East Bank were surveyed. Randomly selected sites on the East Bank were not sampled randomly. These data should not be aggregated to make synoptic population or community estimates for the East Bank. (end continuation)

Process Date/Time: 2007-09-01 00:00:00

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 39307
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:39307
Metadata Record Created By: Tyler Christensen
Metadata Record Created: 2017-04-05 12:51+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2023-05-30 18:10+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2017-04-11
Owner Org: NCCOS
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2017-04-11
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2018-04-11