Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Rapid Ecological Assessment Quadrat Surveys of Corals around the Marianas Islands from 2003 to 2007
The Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP), established by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), is tasked with documenting and understanding the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems in the U.S. Pacific. Pacific RAMP involves an interdisciplinary series of integrated ecosystem observations of coral reefs around ~ 50 islands, atolls, and shallow-water banks of the Mariana Archipelago, American Samoa, the Hawaiian Archipelago, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Pacific RAMP surveys are designed to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of the distribution, abundance, and diversity of corals, algae, other macro-invertebrates, and fishes in the context of their benthic habitats and oceanographic environments.
As part of this Pacific-wide monitoring effort, CRED conducted its first Pacific RAMP research cruise to the Mariana Archipelago (MARAMP) in 2003, with subsequent cruises to follow on a biennial cycle through 2011, and on a triennial cycle thereafter when Pacific RAMP was implemented as part of NOAA's National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP).
The coral data described herein were collected via Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys following the quadrat method, and conducted at specific reef sites around the islands and reefs of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) during MARAMP 2003, 2005, and 2007. During MARAMP 2003, 2005, and 2007, the majority of REA surveys were conducted along the fore reef slopes of islands at depths of 10-20 m; however, other habitat types were also surveyed. During REA surveys, biological assessment teams---a fish team, a coral team, and a combined algal and macro-invertebrate team---followed highly structured protocols that were repeated at each REA site. REA sites were selected in 2003 and, when possible, revisited during 2005 and 2007; a few additional sites were added in 2005 and 2007, and were chosen based on consultations with the resource management agencies of each jurisdiction.
Quadrat surveys were conducted at all islands surveyed during MARAMP 2003, all but one island during MARAMP 2005, and at 10 of 15 islands during MARAMP 2007. The quadrat method was only employed during surveys in the Mariana Archipelago, and the method was retired from Pacific RAMP following MARAMP 2007.
The quadrat survey data include species/genus identification of individual coral colonies and empirical size measurements (colony length and width) that can provide metrics such as generic richness and composition, coral-colony density, and size distribution (not included in the dataset), and can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive, accession #0129066.
Complete Metadata
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|---|---|
| accessLevel | non-public |
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| description | The Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP), established by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), is tasked with documenting and understanding the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems in the U.S. Pacific. Pacific RAMP involves an interdisciplinary series of integrated ecosystem observations of coral reefs around ~ 50 islands, atolls, and shallow-water banks of the Mariana Archipelago, American Samoa, the Hawaiian Archipelago, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Pacific RAMP surveys are designed to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of the distribution, abundance, and diversity of corals, algae, other macro-invertebrates, and fishes in the context of their benthic habitats and oceanographic environments. As part of this Pacific-wide monitoring effort, CRED conducted its first Pacific RAMP research cruise to the Mariana Archipelago (MARAMP) in 2003, with subsequent cruises to follow on a biennial cycle through 2011, and on a triennial cycle thereafter when Pacific RAMP was implemented as part of NOAA's National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The coral data described herein were collected via Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys following the quadrat method, and conducted at specific reef sites around the islands and reefs of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) during MARAMP 2003, 2005, and 2007. During MARAMP 2003, 2005, and 2007, the majority of REA surveys were conducted along the fore reef slopes of islands at depths of 10-20 m; however, other habitat types were also surveyed. During REA surveys, biological assessment teams---a fish team, a coral team, and a combined algal and macro-invertebrate team---followed highly structured protocols that were repeated at each REA site. REA sites were selected in 2003 and, when possible, revisited during 2005 and 2007; a few additional sites were added in 2005 and 2007, and were chosen based on consultations with the resource management agencies of each jurisdiction. Quadrat surveys were conducted at all islands surveyed during MARAMP 2003, all but one island during MARAMP 2005, and at 10 of 15 islands during MARAMP 2007. The quadrat method was only employed during surveys in the Mariana Archipelago, and the method was retired from Pacific RAMP following MARAMP 2007. The quadrat survey data include species/genus identification of individual coral colonies and empirical size measurements (colony length and width) that can provide metrics such as generic richness and composition, coral-colony density, and size distribution (not included in the dataset), and can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive, accession #0129066. |
| distribution |
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| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:24527 |
| issued | 2014-10-14T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| keyword |
[
"1221",
"Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP): Biennial monitoring for the U.S. Pacific Islands and Atolls",
"Numeric Data Sets > Biology",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species Richness",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Photic Zone Corals",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Coral Colony Size and Condition",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Rapid assessment studies",
"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 > BioDiversity",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities",
"CORAL",
"CORAL - CENSUS",
"CORAL - COLONY SIZE",
"CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
"survey - biological",
"survey - coral reef",
"survey - swimmer/diver",
"HI'IALAKAI",
"OSCAR ELTON SETTE",
"Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)",
"Pacific Reef and Assessment Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP)",
"NW Pacific",
"US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
"COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Agrihan Island > Agrihan Island (18N145E0002)",
"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 > Anatahan > Anatahan Island (16N145E0001)",
"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 > Arakane Reef (15N141E0001)",
"COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands ( CNMI ) (18N146E0000)",
"COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands > Pathfinder Reef (16N141E0001)",
"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 > Guam > Guam (13N144E0000)",
"COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Guam > Santa Rosa Bank (12N144E0051)",
"OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Agrihan Island > Agrihan Island (18N145E0002)",
"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 > Anatahan Island > Anatahan Island (16N145E0001)",
"OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Arakane Reef > Arakane Reef (15N141E0001)",
"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 > Guam > Santa Rosa Bank (12N144E0051)",
"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 > Pathfinder Reef > Pathfinder Reef (16N141E0001)",
"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)",
"CRED",
"CREP",
"Coral Reef Ecosystem",
"Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
"Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
"MARAMP",
"Marianas Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program",
"Marine Ecosystem",
"PIFSC",
"Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
"RAMP",
"REA",
"Rapid Ecological Assessment",
"Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program",
"Biennial",
"Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands",
"Mariana Archipelago",
"Mariana Islands",
"Marianas",
"DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
"Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/24527 |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2014-10-14T00:00:00.000+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/24527.pdf"
]
|
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | 145.9,12.8,142.8,20.6 |
| temporal | 2007-05-25T00:00:00+00:00/2007-06-08T00:00:00+00:00 |
| title | Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Rapid Ecological Assessment Quadrat Surveys of Corals around the Marianas Islands from 2003 to 2007 |
