gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:72575 eng UTF8 dataset CSV Files Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 808-725-5300 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Website Website for this organization information 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. resourceProvider Luers, Lori H 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA lori.luers@noaa.gov pointOfContact 2026-03-04T19:17:17 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata Part 2 Extensions for imagery and gridded data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) A synthesis of benthic percent cover data in the Mariana Islands Archipelago covering a period of 22 years (2000-2022) and summarized at three spatial scales (archipelago-, island-, and sub-island-scales) Multi-data-stream Benthos Marianas 2024 creation 2024 publication NOAA/NMFS/EDM 72575 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/72575 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Full Metadata Record View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. information Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 808-725-5360 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA pifsc.info@noaa.gov https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Website Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage information 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. originator https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/pacific-islands#science WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Region - Science Overview Landing page for PIFSC download https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link National Coral Reef Monitoring Program NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) website. download https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/56376 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Technical Memorandum Relevant Publication. Gajdzik L, Ingeman K, Kindinger TL, Oliver T. 2023. Spatiotemporal trends in benthic and reef fish communities in the Mariana Archipelago. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-152, 45p. 45. doi:10.25923/7efh-qt23 download https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/ecosystems/coral-reefs-pacific WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Coral Reefs in the Pacific Online Resource download Gajdzik L, Ingeman K, Kindinger TL, Oliver T. 2023. Spatiotemporal trends in benthic and reef fish communities in the Mariana Archipelago. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-PIFSC-152, 45p. 45. doi:10.25923/7efh-qt23 University of Guam Marine Laboratory (2019). Guam Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring Program Benthic Images since 2010. NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/47788. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2024: National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover Derived from Analysis of Benthic Images Collected during Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) across the Mariana Archipelago since 2014, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36156. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2024: National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Images Collected from Stratified Random Sites (StRS) across the Mariana Archipelago since 2014, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36153. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2024: Pacific Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program: Line-Point-Intercept (LPI) Surveys for Benthic Cover at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2012, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25261. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2024: National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover from Annotated Benthic Images Collected During Photoquadrat Surveys at Climate Stations across the Mariana Archipelago since 2014, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36147. Perez, D.I., Camacho, R., Hasegawa, K., Iguel, J., Suel, J., David, P. (2021). CNMI State of the Reef Report 2020-2021. Division of Coastal Resources Management, Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The benthic percent cover data described in this record is a result of a synthesizing effort led by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) to integrate benthic cover data collected during the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) surveys in the Mariana Islands Archipelago with surveys carried out by jurisdictional partners in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This project covers a period of over 20 years (2000-2022) and was funded by the CRCP Project #31364, titled "Synthesizing data to assess temporal trends in benthic and reef fish communities across the Mariana archipelago". Benthic percent cover was estimated for six categories (i.e., calcified, non-calcified, algae, turf, crustose coralline algae, and coral) and produced at three spatial scales: across the archipelago (populated islands versus remote islands), at each populated island (Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan) and some remote islands, and for each downscaled sectors (10 sectors in Guam, four in Rota, four in Tinian, and 9 in Saipan). These estimates were primarily generated from benthic substrate photographs and using the line-point intercept methodology. Benthic substrate photographs are commonly taken along a 30-m transect at every meter at each site and are then analyzed using the web-based annotation tool. The line-point-intercept methodology consists of consecutively placing 25-m line transects (with a usually 5-m inter-transect distance) to determine the benthic composition at predetermined intervals along the transect line. The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) was explicitly designed to summarize coral reef site-level data at the regional and island scales. While the results are geographically comprehensive, this sampling design limits the utility of the NCRMP dataset to inform local resource management decisions at sub-island scales. Accordingly, managers typically rely on smaller-scale efforts that trade spatial comprehensiveness for finer spatiotemporal resolution. To reconcile managers' scale of interest and better leverage NCRMP data, we present an effort to integrate NCRMP with local coral reef Monitoring data to assess the temporal variation in fish and benthic communities over the last two decades. We identified common community metrics from all monitoring programs, compared these metrics between populated and remote islands, and analyzed their trends at the island- and downscaled sector-scales (sub-island spatial units that are homogeneous in benthic cover). Our integrated benthic data set (from NCRMP and our jurisdictional monitoring programs) resulted in 2,298 observations from 1,800 unique locations across the Marianas and spanned over two decades (2000-2022). From these data, we observed a general decline in hard coral cover which was accompanied by a substantial increase in turf algae across the archipelago. These trends were present at smaller spatial scales (islands and sectors). Specifically, coral cover significantly declined at three of the four populated islands and in 50% of the sectors. When gauging resilience, our results revealed evidence of reef resistance for some sectors, which represent potential good candidates for resilience-based spatial management. Overall, this project combined different data streams, covered a wide spatiotemporal scale, and employed a spatial downscaling approach to unveil patterns of resilience at management-relevant scales. NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Sciences Division and funded by the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program completed Gajdzik, Laura laura.gajdzik@noaa.gov pointOfContact Gajdzik, Laura laura.gajdzik@noaa.gov custodian notPlanned EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > REEF > CORAL REEF theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords 17.0 31364 Synthesizing data to assess temporal trends in benthic and reef-fish communities across the Mariana archipelago theme CRCP Project Numeric Data Sets > Benthic theme CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat 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 > Marine Biology > Coral Communities theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus BENTHIC COMMUNITIES HABITAT - BENTHIC REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS imagery laboratory analysis survey - biological theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS CORAL REEF STUDIES Coral Reef Conservation Program National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Pacific Reef and Assessment Monitoring Program theme NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division theme NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Agrihan Island > Agrihan Island (18N145E0002) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Aguijan > Aguijan Island (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 (12N144E0001) 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 > Guam > Guam (13N144E0000) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Agrihan Island > Agrihan Island (18N145E0002) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Aguijan Island Reefs > Aguijan Island (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 (12N144E0001) 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) place CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN > MICRONESIA > GUAM OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN > MICRONESIA > NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS place Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords Marianas Trench Marine National Monument place NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS: NW Pacific (limit-180) place NODC Sea Area Names Thesaurus photograph instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS Hi'ialakai Oscar Elton Sette Rainier small boat platform NODC PLATFORM NAMES THESAURUS CNMI CRED CREP Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Division Coral Reef Ecosystem Program CoralNet ESD Ecosystem Sciences Division Guam Mariana Archipelago Mariana Islands Marianas PIFSC Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center RAMP Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program decades theme DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce dataCentre Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords 2017-04-24 publication 8.5 Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords GCMD Keyword Forum Page Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords information custodian PIFSC Publication project InPort otherRestrictions Cite As: Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, [Date of Access]: A synthesis of benthic percent cover data in the Mariana Islands Archipelago covering a period of 22 years (2000-2022) and summarized at three spatial scales (archipelago-, island-, and sub-island-scales) [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/72575. NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose. otherRestrictions Access Constraints: None otherRestrictions Use Constraints: Please cite NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) when using the data. Example: Ecosystem Science Division; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2024: A synthesis of benthic percent cover data in the Mariana Islands Archipelago from 2000 to 2022 summarized at three spatial scales (archipelago-, island-, and sub-island-scales), https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/72575. otherRestrictions Distribution Liability: While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. unclassified Not applicable Not applicable National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Cover Derived from Analysis of Benthic Images Collected during Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) across the Mariana Archipelago since 2014 NOAA/NMFS/EDM 36156 crossReference Pacific Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program: Line-Point-Intercept (LPI) Surveys for Benthic Cover at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2012 NOAA/NMFS/EDM 25261 crossReference NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) NOAA/NMFS/EDM 72575 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/72575.pdf WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP) NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. information crossReference eng; US biota environment biota Benthic cover estimates derived from four datasets are available in a csv file and means were computed in R. Mariana Archipelago (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, including Agrihan, Aguijan, Alamagan, Asuncion, Guguan, Maug, Pagan, Rota, Saipan, Sarigan, and Tinian). 144.2 146.3 13.05 20.74 Extent of surveys in the Marianas Range of dates for which the collection of benthic cover data utilized was originally produced. | Currentness: Ground Condition 2000 2022 false eng false Data Table Multi-data-stream Benthos Mariana Dictionary 2024-12-13 publication CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text) NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. information distributor https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0299811 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0299811 Benthic cover dataset from in situ surveys across the Mariana Islands Archipelago in 2000-2022. Datafile includes the benthic cover for each site (lowest spatial unit, from sectors to island to archipelago-wide), habitat type (only forereef), survey year, latitude, and longitude as well as each island name. These mean coral cover values derived from a synthesizing effort conducted among four main datasets: the NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Sciences Division, the University of Guam, the CNMI Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, and The CNMI BECQ/University of Queensland Saipan Surveys. download dataset Representativeness Only good images of the benthos (for the photoquadrat methods) were kept and those with poor resolution, poor lighting, extraneous objects (fins, etc), or blur were excluded from analysis. For the line-intercept points, the benthic cover parameter observations were made by trained divers. Analytical Accuracy Image data include ~30 benthic photographs per survey site. The diver teams conduct the photoquadrat surveys along one 30-m transect. Appropriate site level image grouping should include all 30 images. Completeness Report Only shallow water (0 to 30 meter depth range) hard-bottom habitats were surveyed. Conceptual Consistency Only photoquadrats and line-point intercept methods of data collection were used at each surveyed site and coarse benthic cover estimates were computed from those data. Estimates of benthic cover were primarily generated from benthic substrate photographs (hereafter referred to as “photoquadrats”) and using the line-point intercept methodology. Photoquadrats are commonly taken along a 30-m transect at every meter at each site. The benthic photoquadrat imagery is then analyzed using the web-based annotation tool such as CoralNet; generally 10 random points are selected per photo. The line-point-intercept methodology consists of consecutively placing 25-m line transects (with a usually 5-m inter-transect distance) to determine the benthic composition at pre-determined intervals along the transect line. All living benthic elements (e.g., coral, algae, and other sessile invertebrates) are identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, often substituting functional group categories for turf algae and crustose coralline algae. The resulting list of datasets was then summarized on relatively coarse metrics of benthic functional groups (i.e., benthic % cover) that allowed us to retain the maximum number of data sets. Where raw data included sub-samples within sites (e.g., multiple, non-independent transects at a single study site), site-level means were calculated to ensure comparability among data sets. Individual data sets were then compiled into a common format with percent cover of (i) hard coral (strictly scleractinian live corals), (ii) macroalgae (excluding turf), (iii) turf, and (iv) crustose coralline algae (CCA). In addition to these functional groupings, we also investigated trajectories and trends over time between calcified cover (i.e., corals, CCA, and other calcifiers such as Halimeda algae) and non-calcified cover (non-calcifying algae, sponges, and other non-calcified living substrates, excluding pavement, rock, sand, and other non-living substrates). Source Contribution: Data sources from this synthesizing project of benthic data followed the SOP for collecting benthic cover data from photoquadrat imagery using CoralNet. Lozada-Misa P, Schumacher BD, Vargas-Angel B. 2017. Analysis of benthic survey images via CoralNet : a summary of standard operating procedures and guidelines. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Administrative Report, H-17-02, 169 p. 2017-01-31 publication Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC https://doi.org/10.7289/V5/AR-PIFSC-H-17-02 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Institutional Repository The NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Sciences Division benthic image analysis SOP using CoralNet information originator Source Contribution: Data sources from this synthesizing project of benthic data followed the SOP for collecting benthic cover data using the photo-quadrat method. Ecosystem Sciences Division Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Benthic Surveys, 2019 Update 2020-02-01 publication Courtney Couch https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/23951 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Winston W, Couch C, Huntington B, Vargas-Angel B. 2020. Ecosystem Sciences Division standard operating procedures: data collection for rapid ecological assessment benthic surveys, 2019 update. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-PIFSC-96, 56 p. Ecosystem Sciences Division Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Benthic Surveys, 2019 Update information originator 2019 Source Contribution: Data sources from this synthesizing project of benthic data followed the SOP for collecting benthic cover data using the line-point intercept method. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 2024: Pacific Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program: Line-Point-Intercept (LPI) Surveys for Benthic Cover at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2012. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25261 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link NOAA Institutional Repository The NOAA Fisheries, Ecosystem Sciences Division benthic data collection SOP using the line-point intercept method information originator otherRestrictions otherRestrictions Access Constraints: None | Use Constraints: None