Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Benthic Surveys: 2019 ESD SOP Update
February 19, 2020
This 2019 document update is intended as a reference and provides guidelines for training, sampling, and data entry for the monitoring of coral populations and benthic communities as part of the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program.
This 2019 document update is intended as a reference and provides guidelines for training, sampling, and data entry for the monitoring of coral populations and benthic communities as part of the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) led by the Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC).
The standard operating procedures (SOP) outlined in this document apply to the Pacific RAMP surveys that ESD and its partners conducted in 2019 on the coral reef ecosystems of the main Hawaiian Islands (vessel limitations prevented REA surveys in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2019).
As part of ESD’s ecosystem assessment and long term monitoring efforts, coral colonies and the benthic community functional groups are surveyed at Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) sites selected using a stratified random sampling design. The details of the methods employed are outlined here.
Winston M, Couch C, Huntington B, Vargas-Angel B. 2020. Ecosystem Sciences Division Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Benthic Surveys: 2019 update. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-PIFSC-96, 56 p. https://doi.org/10.25923/ws5s-km69.