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Environmental Monitoring of Coral Bleaching and Disease in the Hawaiian Islands; Belt Transect Surveys and Disease Assessments of Coral Populations in Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu from March 8, 2010 to November 8, 2011

Published by Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 02, 2026 at 11:18 PM | Dataset Last Updated: December 30, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Coral belt transect surveys, focused at quantifying the relative abundance, density, and size-class distribution of the anthozoan and hydrozoan corals, as well as the condition and health state of the coral populations were conducted around the islands of Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program and the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) from March 8, 2010 to November 8, 2011. The surveys were conducted along two pre-selected transect lines. For coral observations the transect length was 12 m long and the transect width was 1 m wide (0.5 m on each side of the transect line). For coral condition and health observations, the transect length was between 12.5 and 25 m long and the transect width was 1 m, 2 m or 4 m wide (0.5 m, 1.0 m, or 2.0 m on each side of the transect line). The surveyed area was 24 m^2 per site for the coral observations, and ranged from to 25 m^2 to 200 m^2 per site for the disease observations. Within each transect 1-m segments were surveyed, whereby in each segment all coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5 m of either side of the transect line were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (genus or species) and colony size visually estimated and binned by its maximum diameter in one of 7 size classes: 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-80 cm, 80-160 cm, or >160 cm. When a coral colony exhibited signs of disease or compromised health, additional information was separately recorded. Within each of the two transects, all diseased coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5–2 m on each side of each transect line were carefully examined, measured (length and width of the colony in centimeters, when survey time allowed), identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, and assigned to one of several types of afflictions, including coral and algal diseases, bleaching, infections, infestations, discolorations, predation, pigmentation responses, skeletal growth anomalies, and tissue loss. Severity of the affliction (mild, moderate, marked, severe, acute) was also recorded for a subset of bleaching observations only. Photographic documentation was also captured (archived and documented separately). Raw survey data includes species presence, colony counts per taxon, colony size (binned sizes for coral observations, colony width and length for a subset of disease observations), affliction observed, and severity of condition (for observations of bleached corals only).

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20315 Environmental Monitoring of Coral Disease and Bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands Numeric Data Sets > Biology EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Coralline algae > Coralline Algae Diseases EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Condition EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases

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describedByType application/octet-steam
description Coral belt transect surveys, focused at quantifying the relative abundance, density, and size-class distribution of the anthozoan and hydrozoan corals, as well as the condition and health state of the coral populations were conducted around the islands of Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program and the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) from March 8, 2010 to November 8, 2011. The surveys were conducted along two pre-selected transect lines. For coral observations the transect length was 12 m long and the transect width was 1 m wide (0.5 m on each side of the transect line). For coral condition and health observations, the transect length was between 12.5 and 25 m long and the transect width was 1 m, 2 m or 4 m wide (0.5 m, 1.0 m, or 2.0 m on each side of the transect line). The surveyed area was 24 m^2 per site for the coral observations, and ranged from to 25 m^2 to 200 m^2 per site for the disease observations. Within each transect 1-m segments were surveyed, whereby in each segment all coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5 m of either side of the transect line were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible (genus or species) and colony size visually estimated and binned by its maximum diameter in one of 7 size classes: 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-80 cm, 80-160 cm, or >160 cm. When a coral colony exhibited signs of disease or compromised health, additional information was separately recorded. Within each of the two transects, all diseased coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5–2 m on each side of each transect line were carefully examined, measured (length and width of the colony in centimeters, when survey time allowed), identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, and assigned to one of several types of afflictions, including coral and algal diseases, bleaching, infections, infestations, discolorations, predation, pigmentation responses, skeletal growth anomalies, and tissue loss. Severity of the affliction (mild, moderate, marked, severe, acute) was also recorded for a subset of bleaching observations only. Photographic documentation was also captured (archived and documented separately). Raw survey data includes species presence, colony counts per taxon, colony size (binned sizes for coral observations, colony width and length for a subset of disease observations), affliction observed, and severity of condition (for observations of bleached corals only).
distribution 
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    "description": "Adult coral colony observations from coral demographic surveys of sites at across Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu from 2010 to 2011 conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP).",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nmfs/pifsc/iso/xml/25285.xml
issued 2012-12-30T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "20315",
  "Environmental Monitoring of Coral Disease and Bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Biology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Coralline algae > Coralline Algae Diseases",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Condition",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases > Bleaching",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases > Tumors and Skeletal Anomalies",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases > White-band Disease",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral biodiversity",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect Monitoring > Belt Transect",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment",
  "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 > Marine Biology > Coral",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities",
  "CORAL",
  "CORAL - CENSUS",
  "CORAL - COLONY SIZE",
  "CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "survey",
  "survey - biological",
  "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; Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Hawaii > Hawaii Island (19N155W0003)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Hawaii > Honolulu > Oahu (21N157W0003)",
  "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 > Maui Island > Maui Island (20N156W0004)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands > Oahu Island > Oahu (21N157W0003)",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "CRCP",
  "CRED",
  "CREP",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "Marine Ecosystem",
  "PIFSC",
  "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "belt transect",
  "MHI",
  "Main Hawaiian Islands",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "Hawaii Disease Project"
]
landingPage https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25285
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2012-12-30T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
rights otherRestrictions, unclassified
spatial -155.84877,19.36916,-157.82596,21.47695
temporal 2010-03-08T00:00:00+00:00/2010-05-06T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title Environmental Monitoring of Coral Bleaching and Disease in the Hawaiian Islands; Belt Transect Surveys and Disease Assessments of Coral Populations in Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu from March 8, 2010 to November 8, 2011

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