General Information
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| Title: | MCR LTER: Coral Reef: Abundance of Benthic Algae and Other Community
Components |
| Identifier: | knb-lter-mcr.8.6 |
| Abstract: |
Coral reefs are comprised of scleractinian corals and many other benthic organims.
The sampling described here quantifies the relative abundances of corals (aggregate
abundance) and the other major benthic components including algal turfs, macroalgae,
crustose corallines, and other sessile invertebrates. Abundance is estimated yearly
at each of 6 sites (2 per shore) around the island. At each site, and in each of 4
habitats (fringing reef, backreef, forereef 10-m, forereef 17-m), 5 permanent 10-m
transects have been established and abundance estimates are made at fixed positions
along each transect (n=10, 0.25 m2 quadrats per transect) allowing a repeated
measures statistical analysis for the detection of temporal trends.
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| Keywords: |
- Coral Reef
- Benthic Algae
- Macroalgae
- Algal Turfs
- Coral Reef Algae
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Involved Parties
Data Set Creators
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Organization: | Moorea Coral Reef LTER |
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Address: |
| Marine Science Institute, |
| University of California, |
| Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 USA |
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Web Address:
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Individual: | Robert Carpenter |
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Organization: | Moorea Coral Reef LTER |
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Position: | Co-PI |
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Address: |
| Department of Biology, |
| California State University, |
| Northridge, CA 91330-8303 USA |
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Phone:
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Email Address:
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Web Address:
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Data Set Contacts
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Position: | Information Manager, Moorea Coral Reef LTER |
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Address: |
| Marine Science Institute, |
| University of California, |
| Santa Barbara, California 93106-6150 United States |
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Phone:
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Email Address:
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Web Address:
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Associated Parties
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Individual: | Vincent Moriarty |
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Organization: | Moorea Coral Reef LTER |
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Position: | Lead Field Technician |
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Address: |
| Department of Biology, |
| California State University, |
| 18111 Nordhoff St., |
| Northridge, CA 91330-8303 USA |
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Phone:
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Email Address:
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Data Set Characteristics
| Geographic Region: |
| Geographic Description: | Moorea, French Polynesia |
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Bounding Coordinates:
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| West: | -150.0 degrees
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| East: | -149.67 degrees
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| North: | -17.45 degrees
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| South: | -17.62 degrees
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| Taxonomic Range: |
| Classification: |
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| Classification: |
| Common Name: | Crustose Coraline Algae |
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| Classification: |
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| Classification: |
| Rank Name: | Phylum |
| Rank Value: | Cnidaria |
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| Classification: |
| Rank Name: | Class |
| Rank Value: | Anthozoa |
| Classification: |
| Rank Name: | Order |
| Rank Value: | Scleractinia |
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Sampling, Processing and Quality Control Methods
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Step by Step Procedures
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| Step 1: |
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Description:
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Sampling locations
Sampling occurs yearly at each of six sites around the island of Moorea.
At each site, four habitats are sampled (fringing reef, backreef, forereef
10-m, forereef 17-m). Within each habitat there are five 10-m permanent
transects along which benthic cover is estimated at fixed locations
(initially located randomly but fixed in time).
Taxa
The abundance of taxa are estimated to the following levels:
Corals: Order;
Macroalgae: Genus, sometimes Species;
Algal Turfs: Functional Group of many Species;
Crustose Corallines: Order;
Other Sessile Invertebrates: Phylum/Class.
Sampling
The relative abundances of benthic components are estimated using 0.25
m2 quadrats divided into 25 squares each 5x5 cm. Each square is scored
according to which benthic component makes up >50% of the
square. The raw data recorded are the number of squares occupied by each
component in each quadrat. Data are collected for 10 quadrats per
transects and 5 transects per habitat. Data are converted to relative
percent cover by multiplying the number of squares occupied times 4
(each square represents 4% of the area of the quadrat [25 cm2/625cm2]).
Mean, Standard Deviation and Standard Error are calculated for each
transect and habitat.
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Data Set Usage Rights
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Data collected under the auspices of the MCR LTER are available to the public
after primary publication, or at most two years after the completion of the study
unless proprietary restrictions are warranted. Use of MCR LTER data is subject to
acceptance of the following conditions: 1. The user agrees to provide valid name and
contact information prior to downloading online data. This information will be used
to contact the user in case of changes to the data, and may also be used by data set
authors and MCR LTER project administrators to document data usage. 2. The user
agrees to cite the data set author and MCR LTER in all publications in which the
data are used, as per the instructions in the data documentation. If no specific
instructions are provided in the data documentation, the user is requested to
include the following statement: "Data sets were provided by the Moorea
Coral Reef Ecosystem LTER, funded by the US National Science Foundation
(OCE-0417412)". 3. The user agrees to provide one copy of any
manuscript based on MCR LTER data to the data set author prior to submitting it for
publication. 4. The user agrees to send two hard copies of any published manuscript
based on MCR LTER data to the following address: Dr. Andrew J. Brooks Deputy Program
Director, MCR LTER Marine Science Institute University of California Santa Barbara,
CA 93106-6150 The user also agrees to send one electronic copy (pdf format) to the
following e-mail address: brooks@msi.ucsb.edu 5. Users are prohibited from selling
or redistributing any data provided by MCR LTER without explicit prior permission.
6. Users are encouraged to contact original investigators responsible for data.
Where appropriate, researchers whose projects are integrally dependent on MCR LTER
data are encouraged to consider collaboration and/or co-authorship with original
investigators. 7. Extensive efforts are made to ensure that online data are accurate
and up to date, but the authors and the MCR LTER will not take responsibility for
any errors that may exist in data provided online. Furthermore, the user assumes all
responsibility for errors in analysis or judgment resulting from use of the data. 8.
Any violation of the terms of this agreement will result in immediate forfeiture of
the data and loss of access privileges to other MCR LTER data sets.
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