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ArcGIS layer package of relative classifications (low to high) for six resilience indicators and two anthropogenic stressors and a map of final relative resilience scores for 78 sites in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The six resilience indicators are: bleaching resistance, coral diversity, coral recruitment, herbivore biomass, macroalgae cover and temperature variability. The two anthropogenic stressors are fishing access and nutrients and sediments. The resilience score map compares sites across all four of the surveyed islands: Saipan, Tinian, Aguijan, and Rota.
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In 2007, a phase shift from corals to corallimorpharians (CM) was documented at Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands, centered around a shipwreck. Subsequent surveys revealed CM to be overgrowing the reef benthos, including corals and coralline algae, potentially placing coral ecosystems in the atoll at risk. This prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the lead management agency of the atoll, to remove the shipwreck. Subsequent surveys showed reversal of spread of CM around the ship impact site. We explain patterns of spread of the CM in terms of life history and local currents and show with a pilot study that pulverized bleach may be an effective tool to eradicate CM on a local scale. If applied strategically, particularly...
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This data set consists of physics-based Delft3D-FLOW and SWAN hydrodynamic models input files used to study the wave-induced 3D flow over spur-and-groove (SAG) formations. SAG are a common and impressive characteristic of coral reefs. They are composed of a series of submerged shore-normal coral ridges (spurs) separated by shore-normal patches of sediment (grooves) on the fore reef of coral reef environments. Although their existence and geometrical properties are well documented, the literature concerning the hydrodynamics around them is sparse. Here, the three-dimensional flow patterns over SAG formations, and a sensitivity of those patterns to waves, currents, and SAG geometry were examined. Shore-normal shoaling...
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Spatial surveys of water column physical properties were acquired with a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profiler for four days in February 2015 and one day in July 2015 off the north coast of the island of Tutuila, American Samoa in support of a study on the coastal circulation patterns within and in the vicinity of the National Park of American Samoa.
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Projected wave climate trends from WAVEWATCH3 model output were used as input for nearshore wave models (for example, SWAN) for the main Hawaiian Islands to derive data and statistical measures (mean and top 5 percent values) of wave height, wave period, and wave direction for the recent past (1996-2005) and future projections (2026-2045 and 2085-2100). Three-hourly global climate model (GCM) wind speed and wind direction output from four different GCMs provided by the Coupled Model Inter-Comparison Project, phase 5 (CMIP5), were used as boundary conditions to the physics-based WAVEWATCH3 numerical wave model for the area encompassing the main Hawaiian islands. Two climate change scenarios for each of the four GCMs...
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A set of physics-based XBeach Non-hydrostatic hydrodynamic model simulations (with input files here included) were used to evaluate how varying carbonate budgets, and thus coral reef accretion and degradation, affect alongshore variations in wave-driven water levels along the adjacent shoreline of Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS) for a number of sea-level rise scenarios, specifically during extreme wave conditions when the risk for coastal flooding and the resulting impact to coastal communities is greatest. These input files accompany the modeling conducted for the following publication: Toth, L.T., Storlazzi, C.D., Kuffner, I.B., Quataert, E., Reyns, J., McCall, R.T., Stathakopoulos, A., Hillis-Starr,...
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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...
This webinar was conducted on April 16, 2015. Reducing coral reef vulnerability to climate change requires that managers understand and support the natural resilience of coral reefs. To assist these managers, a team of researchers, supported by the Pacific Islands Climate Science Center (PI CSC) undertook a project to: 1) assess ecological resilience in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which is in the west Pacific near Guam, and 2) collaboratively develop a decision-support framework with local management partners for resilience-based management. The team used an approach that included surveys of 78 sites along reefs surrounding the most populated islands in CNMI (Saipan, Tinian/Aguijan,...
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Coral reefs are some of the most biologically rich and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. They provide food, fishing, and recreation opportunities for millions of people, protect coastlines from storms, and shelter thousands of plant and animal species. However, climate change is contributing to the degradation of coral reefs in two significant ways: warming temperature and increasing acidification of ocean waters. Scientists are actively working to gather more specific information about how these factors will impact coral reef ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in climate vulnerability among three important reef-building coral species in the Florida Keys. Researchers...
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Coral reefs provide numerous ecosystem goods and services critical to human well-being (e.g., protection from storms and floods, food, income, recreation, and cultural practices), but they are threatened by growing human pressures and climate change. Resource managers must make complex decisions when developing adaptation plans that are cost-effective and maintain coral reef functions while still allowing for human use and development. Through this project, scientists developed a decision-support tool for managers to (1) identify the areas that provide the most critical coral reef services (i.e., supply the most value to humans) as well as the areas of reef most threatened, and (2) compare the effects of reef management...
Abstract (from PLOS One): Declining natural resources have led to a cultural renaissance across the Pacific that seeks to revive customary ridge-to-reef management approaches to protect freshwater and restore abundant coral reef fisheries. Effective ridge-to-reef management requires improved understanding of land-sea linkages and decision-support tools to simultaneously evaluate the effects of terrestrial and marine drivers on coral reefs, mediated by anthropogenic activities. Although a few applications have linked the effects of land cover to coral reefs, these are too coarse in resolution to inform watershed-scale management for Pacific Islands. To address this gap, we developed a novel linked land-sea modeling...
Episodic runoff carries suspended sediment to the nearshore, where it blocks light used for photosynthesis, smothers corals, inhibits coral recruitment, and triggers increases in macroalgae. Even small rainfalls create visible plumes over a few hours. Sediment affects coastal user enjoyment by deteriorating both ecosystem quality and visibility. Sources of erosion include unimproved roads, fallow and active agricultural fields, disturbed forests, local development, and streambanks. In this project, USGS used mapping, field experiments and monitoring, and analysis of recent (July 19–20, 2014) and historic rainfall to estimate sources of land-based pollution for watersheds in West Maui, Hawaii. USGS constructed an...
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Time series data of water surface elevation, wave height, and water column currents and temperature were acquired at seven locations for 86 days off of Waiakane on the south coast of the island of Molokai, Hawaii, in support of a study on the coastal circulation patterns and the transformation of surface waves over the coral reefs.
A process-based wave-resolving hydrodynamic model (XBeach Non-Hydrostatic, ‘XBNH’) was used to create a large synthetic database for use in a “Bayesian Estimator for Wave Attack in Reef Environments” (BEWARE), relating incident hydrodynamics and coral reef geomorphology to coastal flooding hazards on reef-lined coasts. Building on previous work, BEWARE improves system understanding of reef hydrodynamics by examining the intrinsic reef and extrinsic forcing factors controlling runup and flooding on reef-lined coasts. The Bayesian estimator has high predictive skill for the XBNH model outputs that are flooding indicators, and was validated for a number of available field cases. BEWARE is a potentially powerful tool...
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Spatial surveys of water column currents and surface winds were conducted from February 17 to 20, 2015, off the north coast of the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. These data were collected using an acoustic-doppler current profiler (ADCP) and a meterological sensor in support of a study on the coastal circulation patterns within and in the vicinity of the National Park of American Samoa.
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Schematic atoll models with varying theoretical morphologies were used to evaluate the relative control of individual morphological parameters on alongshore transport gradients. Here we present physics-based numerical SWAN model results of incident wave transformations for a range of atoll and island morphologies and sea-level rise scenarios. Model results are presented in NetCDF format, accompanied by a README text file that lists the parameters used in each model run. These data accompany the following publication: Shope, J.B., and Storlazzi, C.D., 2019, Assessing morphologic controls on atoll island alongshore sediment transport gradients due to future sea-level rise: Frontiers in Marine Science, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00245.
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This dataset is from expert elicitation of a panel of 15 experts with knowledge of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) and its impacts on coral reefs. We gathered this group of 15 participants with diverse expertise who had previously studied SCTLD including at universities and various government agencies as microbiologists, pathologists, disease ecologists, population ecologists, and coral experts. Participants represented marine disease experts in Florida, Hawaii, South Carolina, and the US Virgin Islands. We then used a rapid prototyping approach (Runge and Converse, 2017) to elicit, structure, and evaluate existing knowledge regarding the etiology of SCTLD. Our approach began with eliciting hypotheses about...
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Time-series data of water surface elevation, wave height, and water column currents, temperature and salinity were acquired for 150 days off the north coast of the island of Tutuila, American Samoa in support of a study on the coastal circulation patterns within and in the vicinity of the National Park of American Samoa. Table of filenames and data types for each netCDF file within the archive zip files: Filename Variables Measured Depth StartDate EndDate Site M1 - AMS16M1.zip AMS15M1M01ct.nc temp, salinity, pressure 2.0 14-Feb-2015 29-May-2015 AMS15M1M21tl.nc temp 6.6 14-Feb-2015 15-Apr-2015 AMS15M1M22tl.nc temp 6.6 15-Apr-2015 14-Jun-2015 AMS15M1M31tl.nc temp 12.1 14-Feb-2015 15-Apr-2015 AMS15M1M31tl.nc...
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Chronology and time-series geochemistry data of a coral core collected from Olowalu, West Maui, Hawaii. The chronology is based on density banding, radiocarbon bomb-curve, and uranium thorium dating techniques. The geochemistry time-series data contains major and minor elements over the length of the coral life span, as measured from laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS).


map background search result map search result map Impact of Ocean Warming and Acidification on Growth of Reef-Building Corals Valuing Climate Change Impacts on Coral Reef Ecosystem Services Coral Reef Resilience to Climate Change in CNMI results Assessing the Sustainability of Culturally Important Marine Sites in Guam and CNMI Vessel-mounted acoustic-doppler current profiler (ADCP) and surface-wind data from the National Park of American Samoa, Tutuila, American Samoa, 2015 Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profile data in the National Park of American Samoa, Tutuila, American Samoa, 2015 Time-series oceanographic data from the National Park of American Samoa, Tutuila, American Samoa, 2015 Dynamically downscaled future wave projections from SWAN model results for the main Hawaiian Islands Olowalu chronology and geochemistry time-series, West Maui Corallimorph Invasion Palmyra: Data Nearshore Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) profile data, Makua, Kauai, USA, August 2016 Time-series oceanographic data of currents and waves from bottom-mounted instrument packages off Waiakane, Molokai, HI, 2018 Model parameter input files to compare the influence of coral reef carbonate budgets on alongshore variations in wave-driven total water levels on Buck Island Reef National Monument Nearshore Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) profile data, Makua, Kauai, USA, August 2016 Time-series oceanographic data of currents and waves from bottom-mounted instrument packages off Waiakane, Molokai, HI, 2018 Model parameter input files to compare the influence of coral reef carbonate budgets on alongshore variations in wave-driven total water levels on Buck Island Reef National Monument Time-series oceanographic data from the National Park of American Samoa, Tutuila, American Samoa, 2015 Vessel-mounted acoustic-doppler current profiler (ADCP) and surface-wind data from the National Park of American Samoa, Tutuila, American Samoa, 2015 Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profile data in the National Park of American Samoa, Tutuila, American Samoa, 2015 Corallimorph Invasion Palmyra: Data Coral Reef Resilience to Climate Change in CNMI results Assessing the Sustainability of Culturally Important Marine Sites in Guam and CNMI Dynamically downscaled future wave projections from SWAN model results for the main Hawaiian Islands Impact of Ocean Warming and Acidification on Growth of Reef-Building Corals