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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Complexity and Urchin Abundance at Climate Stations of the Hawaiian Archipelago since 2013

Published by Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 02, 2026 at 11:21 PM | Dataset Last Updated: January 01, 2016 at 12:00 AM
The benthic complexity and urchin abundance monitoring effort provides baselines for tracking these variables at NCRMP climate stations. Climate stations are 3-4 sites per island that were selected in a stratified random fashion to be roughly equally spaced around the island, along the 15 m contour, on hard bottom, and at least 1 km away from a river mouth or embayment. Once selected we assess multiple features of the coral reef environment including in-situ temperature (STR), seawater carbonate, net carbonate accretion (CAU), bioerosion (BMU), and cryptobiota diversity (ARMS). Structural complexity is known to be an important component in coral reef ecosystems. Ecosystem relationships that correlate with structural complexity include reef fish density and biomass, live and branching coral cover, urchin abundance and algal cover (Graham and Nash 2013). In many cases, the benthic complexity is an important indicator of benthic and fish communities. The data were collected around the Hawaiian archipelago as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led missions in 2013 and 2016. These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

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743 National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Numeric Data Sets > Benthic 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 > Rugosity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology

Complete Metadata
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description The benthic complexity and urchin abundance monitoring effort provides baselines for tracking these variables at NCRMP climate stations. Climate stations are 3-4 sites per island that were selected in a stratified random fashion to be roughly equally spaced around the island, along the 15 m contour, on hard bottom, and at least 1 km away from a river mouth or embayment. Once selected we assess multiple features of the coral reef environment including in-situ temperature (STR), seawater carbonate, net carbonate accretion (CAU), bioerosion (BMU), and cryptobiota diversity (ARMS). Structural complexity is known to be an important component in coral reef ecosystems. Ecosystem relationships that correlate with structural complexity include reef fish density and biomass, live and branching coral cover, urchin abundance and algal cover (Graham and Nash 2013). In many cases, the benthic complexity is an important indicator of benthic and fish communities. The data were collected around the Hawaiian archipelago as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led missions in 2013 and 2016. These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.
distribution 
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nmfs/pifsc/iso/xml/36098.xml
issued 2016-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "743",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Benthic",
  "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 > Rugosity",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates",
  "benthic",
  "survey",
  "survey - biological",
  "survey - swimmer/diver",
  "visual estimate",
  "HI'IALAKAI",
  "OSCAR ELTON SETTE",
  "CORAL REEF STUDIES",
  "Coral Reef Conservation Program",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program",
  "US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division; Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "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 > Lisianski Island (25N173W0001)",
  "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 > Honolulu > Pearl and Hermes Reef (27N176W0001)",
  "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)",
  "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 > 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 > Lisianski Island (25N173W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Northwestern Hawaiian Islands > Pearl and Hermes Reef (27N176W0001)",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument",
  "CRED",
  "CREP",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "PIFSC",
  "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "Triennial",
  "MHI",
  "Main Hawaiian Islands",
  "NWHI",
  "Northwestern Hawaiian Islands",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "Hawaiian Archipelago"
]
landingPage https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/36098
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2016-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
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rights otherRestrictions, unclassified
spatial -166.1166924,23.62792,-178.37842,28.4529
temporal 2013-08-03T00:00:00+00:00/2013-08-23T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic Complexity and Urchin Abundance at Climate Stations of the Hawaiian Archipelago since 2013

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