The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) developed a rapid ecological assessment to determe the algal diversity and abundance in the Pacific. Data are available at OBIS. The OBIS compiled data includes species name, individual count, lat/lon, and some environmental correlates like depth and salinity.
Dataset Location: OBIS CRED Pacific Algae
Direct Download: OBIS CRED Pacific Algae
Site Location: United States Pacific Island Reefs
Site(s) Georeferenced: Yes
Timespan: 2002 - 2008
Sampling Frequency:
Data Collection Summary / Methods: modified Rapid Ecological Assessment technique that incorporates the use of digital cameras and photoquadrats
Data collected: algal diversity and abundance
OBIS data schema: species name, individual count, date, location, temperature, depth, salinity, nitrogen, oxygen, silicate.
Known Issues: weaknesses, limitations, errors, caveats, etc.
Best Practices: tips for separating the wheat from the chaff
Conditions for use: 'freely available' and 'open-access' as per OBIS: http://iobis.org/about/vision
Citation/ Distributing Authors: Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Island Fisheries Sciences Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. 2011. CRED REA Algal Quadrate Images in the Pacific Ocean 2002-2008. Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, Honolulu, HI.Retrieved from http://www.usgs.gov/obis-usa/.
Supplemental resources:
CRED Ecologial Assessment of Algae - http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/algae.php
Related Publications -
Braun CL, Smith JE, Vroom PS. 2009. Examination of algal diversity and benthic community structure at Palmyra Atoll, U.S. Line Islands. Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, 7-11 July 2008, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Session Number 18: 865-869.
Friedlander A, et al. 2004. Status of coral reefs in the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Wilkinson C (ed.) status of coral reefs of the world: 2004, vol. 2: 411-430. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. OLD
Page KN. 2006. Factors influencing benthic distributional patterns in a near-pristine coral reef ecosystem: Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Master's thesis, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 127 p.
Preskitt LB, Vroom PS, Smith CM. 2004. A Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) quantitative survey method for benthic algae using photo quadrats with scuba. Pacific Science 58: 201-209.
Schopmeyer SA, Vroom PS, Kenyon JC. 2011. Spatial and temporal comparisons of benthic communities at Necker Island, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Pacific Science 65: 405-417.
Tribollet AD, Schils T, Vroom PS. 2010. Spatial-temporal variability in macroalgal assemblages of American Samoa. Phycologia 49: 574-591.
Tribollet AD, Vroom PS. 2007. Temporal and spatial comparison of the relative abundance of macroalgae across the Mariana Archipelago between 2003 and 2005. Phycologia. 46: 187-197.
Tsuda RT, Abbott IA, Vroom PS, Fisher JR. 2010a. Marine benthic algae from Johnston Atoll: new species records, spatial distribution, and taxonomic affinities with neighboring islands. Pacific Science 64: 581-601.
Tsuda RT, Fisher JR, Vroom PS. 2011. First records of marine benthic algae from Swains Island, American Samoa. Cryptogamie Algologie 32: 271-291.
Tsuda RT, Fisher JR, Vroom PS. 2012a. Floristic account of the marine benthic algae from Jarvis Island and Kingman Reef, Line Islands, Central Pacific. Micronesica 43: 14-50.
Tsuda RT, Fisher JR, Vroom PS, Abbott IA. 2010b. New records of subtidal benthic marine algae from Wake Atoll, Central Pacific. Botanica Marina 53: 19-29.
Tsuda RT, Vroom PS, Abbott IA, Fisher JR, Foster KB. 2008. Additional marine benthic algae from Howland and Baker Islands, Central Pacific. Pacific Science 62: 271-290.
Tsuda RT, Vroom PS, Page-Albins KN. 2012b. New marine algal records from the Polynesia-Micronesia region of the Pacific Ocean. Marine Biodiversity Records. DOI: 10.1017/S1755267212000024
Verbruggen H, De Clerck O, N'Yeurt ADR, Spalding H, Vroom PS. 2006. Phylogeny and taxonomy of Halimeda incrassata, including descriptions of H. kanaloana and H. heteromorpha spp. nov. (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta). European Journal of Phycology 41: 337-362.
Vroom PS. 2005. Dasya atropurpurea sp. nov. (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta), a deep-water species from the Hawaiian Archipelago. Phycologia 44: 572-580.
Vroom PS. 2011. "Coral Dominance": a dangerous ecosystem misnomer? Journal of Marine Biology 2011, Article ID 164127, 8 p. DOI: 10.1155/2011/164127
Vroom PS, Abbott IA. 2004a. Acrosymphyton brainardii sp. nov. (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) from French Frigate Shoals, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Phycologia 43: 68-74.
Vroom PS, Abbott IA. 2004b. Scinaia huismanii sp. nov. (Nemaliales, Rhodophyta): an addition to the exploration of the marine algae of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Phycologia 43: 445-454.
Vroom PS, et al. 2009. Macroalgal (Boodlea composita) bloom at Kure and Midway Atolls, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Botanica Marina 52: 361-363.
Vroom PS, Braun CL. 2010. What is the benthic composition of a healthy subtropical reef? Baseline species-level percent cover, with an emphasis on reef algae, in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. PLoS ONE 5: e9733. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009733
Vroom PS et al. 2010. Marine biological community baselines in unimpacted tropical ecosystems: spatial and temporal analyses of reefs at Howland and Baker Islands. Biodiversity and Conservation 19: 797-812. DOI: 10.1007/s10531-009-9735-y
Vroom PS, Page KN. 2006. Relative abundance of macroalgae (RAM) on Northwestern Hawaiian Island reefs. Atoll Research Bulletin 543: 533-548.
Vroom PS, Page KN, Kenyon JC, Brainard RE. 2006b. Algae-dominated reefs. American Scientist 94: 429-437.
Vroom PS, Page KN, Peyton KA, Kukea-Shultz JK. 2005. Spatial heterogeneity of benthic community assemblages with an emphasis on reef algae at French Frigate Shoals, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Coral Reefs 24: 574-581.
Vroom PS, Page KN, Peyton KA, Kukea-Shultz JK. 2006a. Marine algae of French Frigate Shoals, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: species list and biogeographic comparisons. Pacific Science 60: 81-95.
Vroom PS, Smith CM. 2003. Reproductive features of Hawaiian Halimeda velasquezii (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta), and an evolutionary assessment of reproductive characters in Halimeda. Cryptogamie, Algologie 24: 355-370.
Vroom PS, Timmers MAV. 2009. Spatial and temporal comparison of algal biodiversity and benthic cover at Gardner Pinnacles, Northwestern Hawaiʻian Islands. Journal of Phycology 45: 337-347.
Vroom PS, Zgliczynski BJ. 2011. Effects of volcanic ash deposits on four functional groups of a coral reef. Coral Reefs 30: 1025-1032.
Available via the EcoData Retriever: No