West Hawaii Coral Reef Fish And Benthic Survey From 2015 Bleaching Event

This dataset provides a 2015 baseline assessment of coral reef fish and benthic communities along the Kona coast of Hawaii. Data includes species composition, density, size, abundance, coral counts, benthic cover, and macroalga cover, collected during a significant coral bleaching event. It was gathered by The Nature Conservancy Hawaii for NOAA's Habitat Blueprint initiative to evaluate reef resilience.

Use Cases

• Analyzing fish species composition and abundance changes post-bleaching event using census data.
• Assessing coral reef resilience by comparing baseline benthic cover (hard coral, macroalgae) with later surveys.
• Modeling the relationship between fish density, size, and specific benthic habitat features.
• Evaluating the spatial distribution of coral and algal communities along the Kona coast transects.

Strengths

• Serves as a critical baseline collected during the widespread 2015 coral bleaching event.
• Data collection follows the standardized Belt Transect method, enabling temporal comparison.
• Dataset is part of a multi-year NOAA monitoring series designed to assess reef resilience.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals recognized importance.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are not provided by any source, limiting detailed analysis.
• Sources conflict on last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-04-01 (likely a placeholder), while NASA EarthData lists 2015-10 23.
• The dataset represents only a single year (2015) from the described monitoring series.

Provenance

Source

The Nature Conservancy Hawaii, for NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program and Habitat Blueprint initiative.

Collection Method

Belt Transect method.

Time Range

2015-10-13 to 2015-10-23

Freshness

2015-10-23 00:00:00

Geography

West Hawaii Habitat Focus Area along the Kona coast of the island of Hawaii.