Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Belt Transect Surveys of Corals at U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2002 to 2007 (uneven size-class bins)

The coral demographic data described here result from belt transect surveys conducted by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD)---formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division---from 2002 to 2007 at coral reef sites in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of NOAA's Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) with funding from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). 

Surveys were conducted at fixed sites at depths ranging between 10 m and 15 m. Sites were surveyed using belt transects to collect coral colony metrics. At each site, the surveyor listed and identified to the genus or species level, all coral colonies occurring within 0.5 sq. meters of each side of two, 25-m transect lines; and recorded the visually estimated size class to which the maximum diameter of  each colony belonged (0-5 cm; >5-10 cm; >10-20 cm; >20-40 cm; >40-80 cm; >80-160 cm; or >160 cm). In geographic regions such as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands where coral richness and abundance are reduced relative to lower latitude regions with higher species richness, the protocol was amended to include all corals occurring within 1 m of each side of the transect lines.  These coral demographic data provide information on coral abundance (density, proportion occurrence, and total colony abundance), size distribution, and taxonomic richness.

Tags: 1221, aguihan, aguihan island (aguijan) (14n145e0006), aguihan island reefs, american samoa, american samoa (14s170w0000), aquatic habitat, baker island, baker island (00n176w0001), belt transect, benthos analysis, biology, biosphere, c204 pacific reef assessment and monitoring program (pacific ramp): biennial monitoring for the us p, central pacific ocean, cnmi, coastal processes, commonwealth of the northern mariana islands, coral, coral - census, coral - colony size, coral - species identification, coral communities, coral reef conservation program, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc, earth science, ecological dynamics, ecosystem monitoring and assessment, ecosystem sciences division, equatorial pacific ocean, esd, french frigate shoals (24n166w0001), gardner pinnacles (25n168w0001), guam, guam (13n144e0000), hawaii, hawaii island, hawaii island (19n155w0003), hawaiian islands, hawaiian islands (21n157w0027), hi'ialakai, honolulu, howland island, howland island (00s176w0001), in situ, in situ biological, jarvis island (00s160w0001), johnston atoll, johnston atoll (16n169w0001), kauai, kauai island, kauai island (22n159w0001), kaula island (21n160w0003), kingman reef (06n162w0001), kure atoll (28n178w0001), lanai island, lanai island (20n156w0002), laysan island (25n171w0001), lehua island (22n160w0001), line islands, lisianski island (25n173w0001), main hawaiian islands, manu'a group, manu'a islands (14s170w0038), mariana archipelago, mariana islands, marianas, marianas trench marine national monument, marine biology, maro reef (25n170w0001), maui, maui island, maui island (20n156w0004), mhi, midway atoll (28n177w0001), molokai island, molokai island (21n157w0001), national marine fisheries service, necker island (23n164w0001), niihau island, niihau island (21n160w0001), nmfs, noaa, north pacific ocean, northern mariana islands, northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000), northwestern hawaiian islands, northwestern hawaiian islands (28n178w0000), numeric data sets, nw pacific, nwhi, oahu (21n157w0003), oahu island, ocean basin, oceans, ofu island (14s169w0013), olosega island (14s169w0014), oscar elton sette, pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, pacific reef and assessment monitoring program, pacific remote island areas, pacific remote islands marine national monument, palmyra atoll (05n162w0001), papahanaumokuakea marine national monument, pearl and hermes reef (27n176w0001), pifsc, pria, ramp, rapid assessment studies, rapid ecological assessment, rea, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef habitat, reef monitoring and assessment, rose atoll (14s168w0001), rose atoll marine national monument, rota, rota island, rota island ( luta ) (14n145e0007), saipan, saipan island, saipan island (15n145e0002), santa rosa bank (12n144e0051), south pacific ocean, species richness, survey - biological, survey - swimmer/diver, swains atoll (11s171w0001), ta'u island (14s169w0012), tinian, tinian island (14n145e0005), tinian island reefs, townsend cromwell, transect monitoring, tutuila island (14s170w0016), u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us doc, usa minor outlying islands, wake atoll, wake atoll (19n167e0001), western pacific ocean, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce