NOAA NCCOS Assessment: Agency priorities for mapping coral reef ecosystems in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 2023-02-22 to 2023-06-12

Point of Contact

LTJG Jennifer Kraus, Jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)

NCCOS Data Manager, nccos.data@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)

Principal Investigator:

LTJG Jennifer Kraus, Jennifer.kraus@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)

Additional Principal Investigator:

Tim Battista, Tim.battista@noaa.gov, US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)

GIS Projection: WGS 1984

The data product is derived from a summary of expert opinions obtained using a custom application created in an ESRI Web AppBuilder that implemented a coin placement technique where each expert allocated virtual coins on a map grid to express their mapping priorities. For a complete description of the process and analyses used in a similar project, see Kendall et al. 2020.

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_CNMI.dbf - 103.2 kB

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_CNMI.prj - 145 Bytes

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_CNMI.shp - 55.5 kB

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_CNMI.shp.xml - 12.9 kB

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_CNMI.shx - 2.7 kB

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_Guam.dbf - 44.6 kB

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_Guam.prj - 145 Bytes

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_Guam.shp - 25.8 kB

CRCP_GapAnalysis_Priorities_Guam.shx - 1.3 kB

Data File Resolution: 2.6 square kilometers

US Shallow Coral Reef Mapping Priorities Data Viewer

Hile, S., Kraus, J., Buckel, C., Williams, B., Dorfman, D., Pagan, F., Towle, E., Edwards, K., & Howell, J. (2023). NOAA NCCOS Assessment: Agency priorities for mapping coral reef ecosystems in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 2023-02-22 to 2023-06-12 [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8252929

NCCOS Project Webpage: Defining Future Seafloor Mapping Priorities to Inform Shallow Coral Reef Management

Reviewed/Updated Metadata, Edited URLs

Hile, Sarah D., LT Kraus, Jennifer, Buckel, Christine A., Howell, Jacob, Williams, Bethany, Dorfman, Dan, Pagan, Francisco, Towle, Erica K. 2024 Agency Priorities for Mapping Coral Reef Ecosystems in Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 321. Silver Spring, MD. https://doi.org/10.25923/0t69-z467

Associated Manuscript

Spatial Prioritization Widget: A Tool to Identify Mapping Priorities

An advisory group was established which included individuals from NOAA CRCP and NOAA Fisheries. This advisory team customized the prioritization process specifically to meet the needs of CRCP and local coral reef manager priorities. In the online prioritization tool, the Guam study area was divided into 153 hexagonal grid cells 2.6 km2 in size. The CNMI study area was divided into 330 hexagonal grid cells 2.6 km2 in size. Existing relevant spatial datasets (e.g., bathymetry, Sanctuary Protection Areas, etc.) were provided as a digital atlas to help participants understand information and data gaps within the project area and to identify locations they wanted to prioritize for future data collections. Each Guam participant was provided with 50 virtual coins to place into grid cells that they wished to prioritize. Each CNMI participant was provided with 110 coins. They were instructed to place more coins in grid cells that were higher priorities. A maximum of 5 coins could be placed into an individual grid cell in Guam by each respondent, and a maximum of 11 coins could be placed into an individual grid cell in CNMI. Respondents also reported why these locations were important by selecting a minimum of one, and a maximum of two, management uses from the following list: endangered species management (e.g.,), habitat restoration, monitoring, coastal vulnerability planning, watershed management, fisheries management, consultations and permitting, emergency response, and spatial protection and management. Respondents also reported requirements of data were needed in priority cells. A minimum of one, to a maximum of two choices were selected from the following list:delineations of large topographic features, delineations of hard vs. soft bottom, models of habitat suitability for key taxa or communities, delineations of substrate type (e.g. sand, mud, coral, rock), models of presence/absence or density of corals, identification of coral species and their local environments, documentation of individual specimen conditions. Coin values were summarized and mapped to identify high priority areas, reasons for those priorities, and

information needs. This ESRI shapefiles contain the 2.6 km2 grid cells used in this prioritization and their associated coin values overall, as well as by management use, data product, and mapping methodology. Other summary values include the number of participants, number of participating groups, number of management uses, and number of data requirements. Additionally, coins for microscale (identification of coral species and their local environments and documentation of individual specimen condition), mesoscale (delineations of substrate type, models of presence/absence/density of corals), and regional (delineations of topographic features, delineations of hard vs. soft bottom, models of habitat suitability) requirements were summarized. Also included is a ranking of each grid cell based on the total number of coins, management uses, and participating groups allocating coins in the respective cell. For a complete description of the process and analysis see: Hile et al. 2023, in prep.