Coral Reef Resilience and Social Vulnerability to Climate Change in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands

Published by Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: December 19, 2025 | Last Modified: 2020-06-11T00:00:00.000+00:00

This dataset results from an analysis of exposure, resilience, and social vulnerability to climate change threats for the coral reefs of the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. Standard methodologies were applied to assess ecological resilience and social vulnerability of communities surveyed by the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in the Pacific. The analysis focuses primarily on increases in ocean temperatures and the impact of coral bleaching on the U.S.'s Pacific coral reefs and the communities that depend on them. Findings from the analysis are presented in a publication series, Coral Reef Resilience and Social Vulnerability to Climate Change, for the main Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The coral reef resilience indices include 7 ecological factors and temperature variability. The ecological data were derived from NCRMP datasets from 2013 to 2015---including coral demographic surveys (coral diversity, coral disease, juvenile coral density, bleaching resistant corals), reef fish surveys (herbivorous fish biomass, fishing depletion), and photoquadrat surveys (macroalgal cover)---with factor selection and calculation following McClanahan et al. (2012) and Maynard et al. (2015). Temperature variability data are from Heron et al. (2016). The 8 factors were normalized and combined to derive total resilience, bleaching resistance, coral competitiveness and other stressors. All social vulnerability data were derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), analyzed following Kleiber et al. (2018). Social vulnerability indices include housing characteristics, labor force, personal disruption, population composition, and poverty. Exposure data presented in the publication series are directly from van Hooidonk et al. (2016) and are not included with this dataset. The geographic data file to plot the ecological data generated from the analysis are included with this dataset. The social data can be plotted using the TIGER Line shapefiles for county subdivisions from the U.S. Census Bureau.

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@type	dcat:Dataset
accessLevel	non-public
contactPoint	{ "fn": "Oliver, Thomas", "@type": "vcard:Contact", "hasEmail": "mailto:thomas.oliver@noaa.gov" }
describedByType	application/octet-steam
description	This dataset results from an analysis of exposure, resilience, and social vulnerability to climate change threats for the coral reefs of the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. Standard methodologies were applied to assess ecological resilience and social vulnerability of communities surveyed by the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in the Pacific. The analysis focuses primarily on increases in ocean temperatures and the impact of coral bleaching on the U.S.'s Pacific coral reefs and the communities that depend on them. Findings from the analysis are presented in a publication series, Coral Reef Resilience and Social Vulnerability to Climate Change, for the main Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The coral reef resilience indices include 7 ecological factors and temperature variability. The ecological data were derived from NCRMP datasets from 2013 to 2015---including coral demographic surveys (coral diversity, coral disease, juvenile coral density, bleaching resistant corals), reef fish surveys (herbivorous fish biomass, fishing depletion), and photoquadrat surveys (macroalgal cover)---with factor selection and calculation following McClanahan et al. (2012) and Maynard et al. (2015). Temperature variability data are from Heron et al. (2016). The 8 factors were normalized and combined to derive total resilience, bleaching resistance, coral competitiveness and other stressors. All social vulnerability data were derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), analyzed following Kleiber et al. (2018). Social vulnerability indices include housing characteristics, labor force, personal disruption, population composition, and poverty. Exposure data presented in the publication series are directly from van Hooidonk et al. (2016) and are not included with this dataset. The geographic data file to plot the ecological data generated from the analysis are included with this dataset. The social data can be plotted using the TIGER Line shapefiles for county subdivisions from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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identifier	gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:59258
issued	2020-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword	[ "30174", "Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis for US Pacific Reefs - Integrating Exposure, Resilience, and Social Adaptive Capacity", "Numeric Data Sets > Biology", "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat", "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment", "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs", "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology", "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish > Fish Assemblages", "CORAL", "CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION", "FISH - CORAL REEF", "FISH BIOMASS", "LATITUDE", "LONGITUDE", "MACROALGAE", "REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER", "WATER TEMPERATURE", "in situ", "GIS product", "derived products", "satellite data", "survey - coral reef", "survey – swimmer/diver", "CORAL REEF STUDIES", "Coral Reef Conservation Program", "US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Aguihan > Aguihan Island (Aguijan) (14N145E0006)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Alamagan Island > Alamagan Island (17N145E0002)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Asuncion Island > Asuncion Island (19N145E0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Farallon de Pajaros > Farallon de Pajaros (20N144E0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Guguan > Guguan Island (17N145E0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Maug > Maug Island (20N145E0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands ( CNMI ) (18N146E0000)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Pagan > Pagan Island (18N145E0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Rota > Rota Island ( Luta ) (14N145E0007)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Saipan > Saipan Island (15N145E0002)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Sarigan Island > Sarigan Island (16N145E0003)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Tinian > Tinian Island (14N145E0005)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Manu'a Islands (14S170W0038)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Ofu Island (14S169W0013)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Olosega Island (14S169W0014)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Rose Atoll (14S168W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Ta'u Island (14S169W0012)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Guam > Guam (13N144E0000)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Hawaii > Hawaii Island (19N155W0003)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Hawaii > Kauai Island (22N159W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Hawaii > Molokai Island (21N157W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > French Frigate Shoals (24N166W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Kure Atoll (28N178W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Laysan Island (25N171W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Lisianski Island (25N173W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Maro Reef (25N170W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Midway Atoll (28N177W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (28N178W0000)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Oahu (21N157W0003)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Kauai > Niihau Island (21N160W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Maui > Lanai Island (20N156W0002)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Maui > Maui Island (20N156W0004)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaiian Islands (21N157W0027)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Baker Island (00N176W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Howland Island (00S176W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Jarvis Island (00S160W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Johnston Atoll (16N169W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Kingman Reef (06N162W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Palmyra Atoll (05N162W0001)", "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Wake Atoll (19N167E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Manu'a Islands (14S170W0038)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Rose Atoll (14S168W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Baker Island > Baker Island (00N176W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands (21N157W0027)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Hawaii Island > Hawaii Island (19N155W0003)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Kauai Island > Kauai Island (22N159W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Lanai Island > Lanai Island (20N156W0002)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Maui Island > Maui Island (20N156W0004)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Molokai Island > Molokai Island (21N157W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Niihau Island > Niihau Island (21N160W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Oahu Island > Oahu (21N157W0003)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Howland Island > Howland Island (00S176W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Johnston Atoll > Johnston Atoll (16N169W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Jarvis Island (00S160W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Kingman Reef (06N162W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Palmyra Atoll (05N162W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (28N178W0000)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > French Frigate Shoals (24N166W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Kure Atoll (28N178W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Laysan Island (25N171W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Lisianski Island (25N173W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Maro Reef (25N170W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Midway Atoll (28N177W0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Wake Atoll > Wake Atoll (19N167E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ofu Island (14S169W0013)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Olosega Island (14S169W0014)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ta'u Island (14S169W0012)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Aguihan Island Reefs > Aguihan Island (Aguijan) (14N145E0006)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Alamagan Island > Alamagan Island (17N145E0002)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Asuncion Island > Asuncion Island (19N145E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Farallon de Pajaros > Farallon de Pajaros (20N144E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Guam > Guam (13N144E0000)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Guguan Island > Guguan Island (17N145E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Mariana Archipelago > Northern Mariana Islands ( CNMI ) (18N146E0000)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Maug Island > Maug Island (20N145E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Pagan Island > Pagan Island (18N145E0001)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Rota Island > Rota Island ( Luta ) (14N145E0007)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Saipan Island > Saipan Island (15N145E0002)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Sarigan Island > Sarigan Island (16N145E0003)", "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Tinian Island Reefs > Tinian Island (14N145E0005)", "Equatorial Pacific Ocean", "Marianas Trench Marine National Monument", "North Pacific Ocean", "Northwest Pacific Ocean", "Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument", "Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument", "Rose Atoll Marine National Monument", "South Pacific Ocean", "PIFSC", "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center", "CNMI", "Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands", "MHI", "Main Hawaiian Islands", "Mariana Islands", "Marianas", "NWHI", "PMNM", "PRIA", "PRIMNM", "Pacific Remote Island Areas", "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce", "Ocean and Climate Change" ]
landingPage	https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/59258
language	[]
license	https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified	2020-06-11T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher	{ "name": "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center", "@type": "org:Organization" }
references	[ "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/59258.pdf" ]
rights	otherRestrictions, unclassified
spatial	-154.745865,-14.615052,144.561723,28.523088
temporal	2013-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
title	Coral Reef Resilience and Social Vulnerability to Climate Change in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands

Location