National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Complexity and Urchin Abundance at Climate Stations in American Samoa from 2015 to 2018
Benthic complexity and urchin abundance data were collected as part of NOAA's ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). These data were gathered around American Samoa as a part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led missions from 2015 to 2018.
During these missions, the variables of benthic complexity and urchin abundance were recorded by SCUBA divers during visual surveys at NCRMP climate stations. A select number of climate sites were chosen per island in hard-bottom habitat at 15-m depths in a stratified random fashion.
To record benthic complexity, the divers ran a 15-m transect from the reference stake for the site and estimated two maximum vertical relief measurements per meter along the 15-m transect (based on an area of 0.5 m x 1 m to the left and 0.5 m x 1 m to the right of each meter on the transect) for a total of 30 measurements. The measurements were tallied into five substrate height bins, including 0-20 cm, 20-50 cm, 50-100 cm, 100-150 cm, and >150 cm. The total frequency for the five substrate height bins is 30 units for a 15-m transect. Maximum depth, minimum depth, and maximum vertical relief were also recorded for the climate station.
Free and boring urchin abundance was estimated within the climate station and recorded using DACOR, an abundance code based on visual estimation; dominant (D), abundant (A), common (C), occasional (O), and rare (R).
Complete Metadata
| describedByType | application/octet-steam |
|---|---|
| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:36099 |
| issued | 2016-12-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36099 |
| language | [] |
| references |
[ "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/36099.pdf" ] |
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | -168.13792,-14.559317,-171.09223299,-11.04568868 |
| temporal | 2015-02-15T00:00:00+00:00/2015-03-26T00:00:00+00:00 |
