National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic cover derived from analysis of images collected during stratified random surveys (StRS) across American Samoa

The benthic cover data in this collection result from the analysis of images produced by benthic photo-quadrat surveys. These surveys were conducted along transects at stratified random sites across American Samoa as a part of the ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). Benthic cover data derived from this imagery are also included in this collection.

A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the region. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0-30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included island, reef zone, and depth. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area and sites were randomly located within strata. Sites were surveyed using photo-quadrats along transects. The imagery were then analyzed to produce estimates of relative abundance (percent cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition, and relative generic richness.

Benthic habitat imagery were quantitatively analyzed using a web-based annotation tool called CoralNet (Beijbom et al. 2015). In general, images are analyzed to produce three functional group levels of benthic cover: Tier 1 (e.g., hard coral, soft coral, macroalgae, turf algae, etc.), Tier 2 (e.g., Hard Coral = massive, branching, foliose, encrusting, etc.; Macroalgae = upright macroalgae, encrusting macroalgae, bluegreen macroalgae, and Halimeda, etc.), and Tier 3 (e.g., Hard Coral = Astreopora sp, Favia sp, Pocillopora, etc.; Macroalgae = Caulerpa sp, Dictyosphaeria sp, Padina sp, etc.).

Tags: 5h5w7y, 743, 843gh6, algae, algal cover, american samoa, american samoa (14s170w0000), amsm, aquatic habitat, baseline studies, belt transect, benthic, benthic biology, benthic habitat, benthos analysis, biosphere, blue-green algae, coastal processes, coral, coral communities, coral cover, coral point count, coral reef ecology, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reefs, coralnet, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, crustose coralline algae, earth science, ecosystem sciences division, encrusting macroalgae, esd, f1ndt2, habitats, hard coral cover, hard coral cover live percentage, in situ biological, lgfh3g, linear transect (point), machine-learning algorithm, macroinvertebrates, manu'a group, marine biology, marine invertebrates, marine plants, microbiota, mollusks, national coral reef monitoring program, national coral reef monitoring program (ncrmp), numeric data sets, ocean basin, oceanography, oceans, octocoral cover, ofu (14s169w0002), ofu island, ofu island (14s169w0013), olosega (14s169w0016), olosega island, olosega island (14s169w0014), pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, photograph analysis, photographic analysis, pifsc, quadrat monitoring, r5lm8g, ramp, rapid assessment studies, rapid ecological assessment, rea, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef habitat, reef monitoring and assessment, robot-assisted annotations, rose atoll (14s168w0001), seagrass, sponges, swains atoll (11s171w0001), ta'u island (14s169w0012), transect monitoring, tridacna, triennial, turf algae, tutuila island (14s170w0016), united states of america, vegetation, visual images, y4ulfu, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce