National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish, including benthic estimate data of American Samoa

The reef fish survey data provided in this collection are gathered as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions around American Samoa.

The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in American Samoa as part of the ongoing NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method used to gather these data catalogs the diversity (species richness), abundance (numeric density) and biomass (fish mass per unit area) of diurnally active reef fish assemblages in shallow-water (less than 30 m) hard-bottom habitats. Visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic complexity are also recorded within this collection, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design is employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the region. The survey domain encompasses the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats and the stratification includes island, reef zone, and depth. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area.