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Summary

Description

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) provides a biennial ecological characterization at a broad spatial scale of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition/density/size, benthic cover, and coral density/size/condition). Data collection occurs at stratified random sites where the sampling domain for each region (e.g., Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary [FGBNMS]) is partitioned by habitat type and depth, sub-regional location (e.g., along-shelf position) and management zone. NCRMP will provide broader geographic context to supplement local monitoring efforts and studies of tropical reef ecosystems.

This coral demographics protocol was devised to provide more detailed and species-specific insight (signal magnitude) for coral populations than is provided by percent cover. Specifics of the protocol are based closely on other long-established monitoring programs in the Atlantic region, including Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA, Caribbean-wide), Sanctuary Coral Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring (SCREAM, Florida), Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP, Florida), Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (CREMP, Florida) and the U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program (TCRMP, USVI). However, the sampling resolution may not capture the population structure of rare or uncommon corals, including currently-listed Endangered Species Act (ESA) species.

Precise designations of coral condition (e.g., specific disease types, minor bleaching/paling conditions) are specifically not included due to the low temporal resolution of the NCRMP sampling (i.e., biennial and potentially not seasonally consistent). The survey protocol is designed to capture the most easily recognized colony conditions likely to be encountered, specifically recent mortality (i.e., dead white skeleton) and bright-white bleaching on a partial or an entire coral colony

Distribution Information

Contact Information

Distributor
National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD)
(301) 713-3277

Item Identification

Title: Coral Demographics Survey Protocol for the Atlantic Region: U.S. Caribbean, Florida and Gulf of Mexico: 2016
Short Name: Protocols 2016 Coral Demographic Assessments
Status: Completed
Revision Date: 2016-05-17
Publication Date: 2018
Abstract:

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) provides a biennial ecological characterization at a broad spatial scale of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition/density/size, benthic cover, and coral density/size/condition). Data collection occurs at stratified random sites where the sampling domain for each region (e.g., Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary [FGBNMS]) is partitioned by habitat type and depth, sub-regional location (e.g., along-shelf position) and management zone. NCRMP will provide broader geographic context to supplement local monitoring efforts and studies of tropical reef ecosystems.

This coral demographics protocol was devised to provide more detailed and species-specific insight (signal magnitude) for coral populations than is provided by percent cover. Specifics of the protocol are based closely on other long-established monitoring programs in the Atlantic region, including Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA, Caribbean-wide), Sanctuary Coral Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring (SCREAM, Florida), Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP, Florida), Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (CREMP, Florida) and the U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program (TCRMP, USVI). However, the sampling resolution may not capture the population structure of rare or uncommon corals, including currently-listed Endangered Species Act (ESA) species.

Precise designations of coral condition (e.g., specific disease types, minor bleaching/paling conditions) are specifically not included due to the low temporal resolution of the NCRMP sampling (i.e., biennial and potentially not seasonally consistent). The survey protocol is designed to capture the most easily recognized colony conditions likely to be encountered, specifically recent mortality (i.e., dead white skeleton) and bright-white bleaching on a partial or an entire coral colony

Purpose:

To describe protocols for Coral Demographic Surveys

Support Roles

Distributor

CC ID: 1124192
Date Effective From: 2018
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD)
Address: NOAA/NESDIS E/OC SSMC3, 4th Floor, 1351 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282
Phone: (301) 713-3277

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 1124193
Start Date: 2018
End Date: Present
Download URL: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0169401/2.2/data/0-data/NCRMP_Florida_2016_Benthics/NCRMP_Florida_2016_Benthics/Data_Documentation/Protocols/NCRMP_CoralDemographic_Protocol_2016.pdf
Distributor: National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD) (2018 - Present)
File Name: NCRMP_CoralDemographic_Protocol_2016.pdf
Description:

NCRMP_CoralDemographic_Protocol_2016.pdf 2018-01-29 17:55 1.3M

File Date/Time: 2018-01-29 17:55:00
File Type (Deprecated): PDF
Distribution Format: PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format
File Size: 1.3M
Compression: Uncompressed
Review Status: Chked Viruses Inapp Content

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 66554
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:66554
Metadata Record Created By: Lee M Weinberger
Metadata Record Created: 2022-01-30 15:50+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2023-10-17 16:12+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2023-08-28
Owner Org: SEFSC
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2022-02-28
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2023-02-28