National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of coral demography (adult and juvenile corals) across the Mariana Archipelago

Data provided in this collection were gathered around the Mariana Archipelago as part of the ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) by the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program in the Pacific. The data described here result from benthic coral demographic surveys for two life stages (juveniles, adults) across the Mariana Archipelago.

A two-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems around the Mariana Archipelago. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area, and sites were randomly located within strata. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than sampling more transects at a site. Therefore, site-level estimates and site to site comparisons should be used with caution. Sites were surveyed using belt transects to collect juvenile and adult coral colony metrics. These data provide information on juvenile and adult coral abundance (density, proportion occurrence, and total colony abundance), size distribution, partial mortality, prevalence and abundance of recent mortality and cause, prevalence of disease and bleaching, and diversity.