Assessing the Sustainability of Culturally Important Marine Sites in Guam and CNMI

This project was designed to use climate models to produce projections of changes in sea temperatures and ocean chemistry for coastal marine areas in Micronesia as well as reports that describe the outlook of culturally important marine sites in Guam and CNMI. The projections and maps were expected show what the current state of climate science suggests the future holds for marine areas in Micronesia if we continue to use fossil fuels aggressively. These projections of sea conditions will become the foundation of outlook reports for Tumon Bay in Guam, Lao Lao Bay and Saipan Lagoon in Saipan, and northern Tinian Island. The selected areas are among the most important sites for recreation in Guam and CNMI and, as...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2015, CASC, Completed, Coral Reefs, Coral Reefs, All tags... Landscapes, Landscapes, Other Landscapes, Other Landscapes, Pacific Islands, Pacific Islands CASC, Projects by Region, Sea-Level Rise and Coasts, Water, Coasts and Ice, Water, Coasts and Ice, coral reefs, outlook reports, projections, Fewer tags

NOAA coral reef monitoring benthic data from sites across Micronesia from 2009-09-29 to 2015-09-25

Benthic census data were collected from sites around Micronesia as part of the ongoing Micronesia Challenge. Information on the program can be found at (www.micronesiareefmonitoring.com). Survey sites were selected around each island to be representative of natural environmental gradients, management, and major reef types. Thus, full site designs can be used to evaluate both island trends and site-specific trends. Benthic substrates were evaluated using a photo-quadrat technique. At each site, five 50-m transects were used to measure fishes, corals, and other benthic assemblages between 8–10 m on outer reefs, and at 3–5 m for inner lagoon reefs.Fifty photos were taken at 1-m intervals along each 50-m transect line....

Categories: Data

NOAA coral reef monitoring invertebrate data from sites across Micronesia from 2009-09-29 to 2015-09-25

Invertebrate census data were collected from sites around Micronesia as part of the ongoing Micronesia Challenge. Information on the program can be found at (www.micronesiareefmonitoring.com). Survey sites were selected around each island to be representative of natural environmental gradients, management, and major reef types. Thus, full site designs can be used to evaluate both island trends and site-specific trends. Benthic substrates were evaluated using a photo-quadrat technique. At each site, five 50-m transects were used to measure fishes, corals, and other benthic assemblages between 8–10 m on outer reefs, and at 3–5 m for inner lagoon reefs. Each 50-m transect was surveyed at a 5-m width by either one or...

Categories: Data

Assessing relative resilience potential of coral reefs to inform management

Abstract (from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715300926): Ecological resilience assessments are an important part of resilience-based management (RBM) and can help prioritize and target management actions. Use of such assessments has been limited due to a lack of clear guidance on the assessment process. This study builds on the latest scientific advances in RBM to provide that guidance from a resilience assessment undertaken in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). We assessed spatial variation in ecological resilience potential at 78 forereef sites near the populated islands of the CNMI: Saipan, Tinian/Aguijan, and Rota. The assessments are based on measuring indicators...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Connectivity, Coral Reefs, Coral reefs, Environmental management, Pacific Islands CASC, All tags... Spatial planning, Vulnerability, Water, Coasts and Ice, Fewer tags

NOAA coral reef monitoring fish data from sites across Micronesia from 2009-09-29 to 2015-09-25

Fish census data were collected from sites around Micronesia as part of the ongoing Micronesia Challenge. Information on the program can be found at (www.micronesiareefmonitoring.com). Survey sites were selected around each island to be representative of natural environmental gradients, management, and major reef types. Thus, full site designs can be used to evaluate both island trends and site-specific trends. The size and abundance of fishes, which are generally consumed by people (hereinafter food-fish), were collected by four calibrated observers, with individual observers being consistent across jurisdictions. Fish assemblages were estimated from 12 stationary-point counts (SPCs) conducted at equal intervals...

Categories: Data