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Benthic, urchin, and fish observation data collected using multiple methodologies to calculate coral reef carbonate budget estimates for sites in American Samoa in 2023 (NCEI Accession 0302849)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 26, 2026 | Last Modified: 2025-03-27T00:00:00.000+00:00
This data package includes the benthic, urchin, and fish observation data collected for coral reef carbonate budget assessments by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) of NOAA's Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) at fixed sites across American Samoa in 2023. These data were collected as part of a three-year methods development and pilot project funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) in order to establish a standardized carbonate budget methodology for the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in the U.S. Pacific Islands. Observational data were collected at the same sites using established Indo-Pacific ReefBudget methodology (Perry et al. 2018), as well as experimental methodologies that leverage existing NCRMP data streams. Benthic survey data (genus/species, morphology, and surface distance of corals, crustose coralline algae, macroalgae, and other benthic components) and urchin survey data (genus/species, test size, and abundance of bioeroding urchins) were collected using Indo-Pacific Reef Budget-style transects, "chords" transects located within the 12-m diameter circular footprint covered by NCRMP Structure-from-Motion imagery, and virtual transects in fixed site Structure-from-Motion models. Fish survey data (genus/species, count, and size) were collected using Indo-Pacific ReefBudget belt transects, stationary point count surveys conducted at fixed sites, and averaging stationary point count survey data using stratified random survey design around a set distance of the fixed sites. The raw data in this data package were utilized with referential databases to calculate coral reef carbonate budget estimates for Pacific regions. These databases can be found in the Documentation for this package; the two databases include a calcification rates referential database (developed & customized for the U.S. Pacific Islands region from the Indo-Pacific ReefBudget calcification rates database, accessible on the GitHub repository for this project), as well as a referential database of grazing estimates for herbivorous fishes in Pacific Islands regions (NCEI Accession 0259399). Other relevant scripts for producing carbonate budget estimates from raw data and referential data are also available on this project's GitHub repository.

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0302849 BENTHIC COMMUNITIES BENTHIC SPECIES CORAL CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION FISH - CORAL REEF FISH CENSUS FISH SPECIES HABITAT - BENTHIC INVERTEBRATE SPECIES MACROALGAE MACROINVERTEBRATE CENSUS REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER SPECIES IDENTIFICATION SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - ORGANISM LENGTH SUBSTRATE DESCRIPTION swimmer/diver visual observation biological in situ laboratory analyses survey survey - biological survey - coral reef survey - swimmer/diver visual estimate visual observation NOAA Ship Rainier NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) CORAL REEF STUDIES National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa Rose Atoll Marine National Monument South Pacific Ocean oceanography CRED CREP Coral Reef Ecosystem Division Coral Reef Ecosystem Program ESD Ecosystem Sciences Division PIFSC Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce 31334 Developing a carbonate budget assessment methodology for the U.S. Pacific Islands Numeric Data Sets > Biology EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Algal Cover EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Calcareous Macroalgae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Crustose Coralline Algae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Encrusting Macroalgae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Fleshy Macroalgae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Reef Monitoring and Assessment EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Turf Algae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral biodiversity EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Net Ecosystem Calcification EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect Monitoring > Belt Transect EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect Monitoring > Linear Transect (line) EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect monitoring EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Macroinvertebrate Census > Belt Transect EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Macroinvertebrate Density and Species Richness EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Reef Fish Census EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Reef Fish Census > Stationary EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Benthic biology EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Coral Cover EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Hard Coral Cover EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Rugosity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrate Communities EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Biodiversity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Census EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > PLANTS > MACROALGAE (SEAWEEDS) EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS REA REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - SURFACE AREA Rapid Ecological Assessment ReefBudget carbonate budgets VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS Ships RAINIER (call sign: WTEF, ICES code: 315R, 1968-) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Rose Atoll (14S168W0001) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Tutuila Island > Fagatele Bay (14S170W0002) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Rose Atoll (14S168W0001) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Tutuila Island > Fagatele Bay (14S170W0002) OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN > AMERICAN SAMOA OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN K4DUL3

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