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    • Benthic Cover Derived from Benthic Images Collected Across the Hawaiian Archipelago from 2019-08-27 to 2019-11-14 During a Bleaching Event (NCEI Accession 0259266)

    Metadata Updated: November 1, 2023

    The data described here result from benthic photo-quadrat surveys conducted along transects at stratified random sites (StRS) and fixed sites surveyed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) during bleaching event in 2019. This benthic cover dataset follows a typical benthic image analysis, but includes options for bleaching in imagery annotations. Benthic habitat imagery was quantitatively analyzed using the web-based annotation tool CoralNet (Beijbom et al. 2016) with the addition of codes for bleaching of hard coral. In general, images are analyzed to produce three functional group levels of benthic cover: Tier 1 (e.g., hard coral, soft coral, macroalgae, turf algae, etc.), Tier 2 (e.g., Hard Coral = massive, branching, foliose, encrusting, etc.; Macroalgae = upright macroalgae, encrusting macroalgae, bluegreen macroalgae, and Halimeda, etc.), and Tier 3 (e.g., Hard Coral = Astreopora sp, Favia sp, Pocillopora, etc.; Macroalgae = Caulerpa sp, Dictyosphaeria sp, Padina sp, etc.). For each category of hard coral, a bleached and non-bleached option existed during analysis to facilitate the collection of coral bleaching percent cover data.

    In the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) and some sites in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), a StRS design was employed to select random sites. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0-30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included island, reef zone, and depth in all regions, as well as habitat structure type in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area and sites were randomly located within strata. Sites were surveyed using photo-quadrats along transects to collect benthic imagery to ultimately produce estimates of relative abundance (percent cover), frequency of occurrence, benthic community taxonomic composition and relative generic richness.

    The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than sampling more transects at a site. Therefore, site-level estimates and site to site comparisons should be used with caution.

    Surveys conducted in the Main Hawaiian Islands were conducted during shore-based missions and were all StRS, whereas surveys in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were performed opportunistically during the regularly scheduled NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) mission and encompassed StRS as well as fixed sites, which include climate stations and permanent sites

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date 2023-03-15T01:24:38Z
    Metadata Created Date March 17, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date November 1, 2023
    Reference Date(s) September 8, 2022 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2023-03-15T01:24:38Z
    Metadata Created Date March 17, 2023
    Metadata Updated Date November 1, 2023
    Reference Date(s) September 8, 2022 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0259266
    Access Constraints Cite as: Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2022). Benthic Cover Derived from Benthic Images Collected Across the Hawaiian Archipelago from 2019-08-27 to 2019-11-14 During a Bleaching Event (NCEI Accession 0259266). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0259266. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -155.88832
    Bbox North Lat 28.459215
    Bbox South Lat 19.31344
    Bbox West Long -178.383718
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0259266
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id f9299da0-4e00-4ed9-8d89-aee686be02e9
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-178.383718, 19.31344], [-155.88832, 19.31344], [-155.88832, 28.459215], [-178.383718, 28.459215], [-178.383718, 19.31344]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2019-08-27
    Temporal Extent End 2019-11-14

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