National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Benthic complexity and urchin abundance at climate stations of the Mariana Archipelago

The datasets within this collection contain benthic complexity and urchin abundance data gathered as part of NOAA's ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). These data were gathered around the Mariana Archipelago as a part of NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led missions. During these missions, the variables of benthic complexity and urchin abundance were tracked by swimmer/diver visual surveys at NCRMP climate stations. Three to four of these sites were chosen per island in a stratified random fashion so as to be roughly equally spaced, along the 15m contour, on hard bottom, and at least 1 km away from a river mouth or embayment. Once the sites were selected, multiple features of the coral reef environment were assessed, including: in-situ temperature (STR), seawater carbonate, net carbonate accretion (CAU), bioerosion (BMU), and cryptobiota diversity (ARMS). These data, however, are archived separately.

本合集收录的数据集包含底栖复杂性（benthic complexity）与海胆丰度（urchin abundance）两类数据，均为美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）正在推进的国家珊瑚礁监测计划（National Coral Reef Monitoring Program, NCRMP）的采集成果。这些数据采集自马里亚纳群岛海域，隶属于NOAA太平洋岛屿渔业科学中心（Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC）珊瑚礁生态系统项目（Coral Reef Ecosystem Program, CREP）主导的科考任务。在本次科考任务中，研究人员通过潜水/游泳目视调查的方式，在NCRMP气候监测站对底栖复杂性与海胆丰度两项变量进行了追踪记录。每个岛屿会按照分层随机抽样原则选取3至4个监测点位，这些点位需大致等距分布于15米等深线的硬质底质区域，且距离河口或海湾至少1公里。点位选定后，研究人员还对珊瑚礁环境的多项特征开展了评估，包括原位温度（STR）、海水碳酸盐体系、净碳酸盐沉积量（CAU）、生物侵蚀量（BMU）以及隐栖生物多样性（ARMS）。不过上述珊瑚礁环境特征评估数据均单独归档存储。