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Projects
Bioeffects Program Reports: Gulf of Mexico and Pue...
The Bioeffects program is a nationwide program of environmental assessment designed to describe the current status of environmental quality in our nation's estuarine and coastal areas. Field studies examine the ...
Capacity Building for Design and Analysis of Fishe...
Over 50 species of reef fish are captured by commercial and recreational fishermen in the U.S. Caribbean. Many of these species use reef habitats that are deeper than 35 meters ...
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Project
We are monitoring the distribution, abundance, and size of reef fishes and macro-invertebrates and mapping habitats in the Caribbean. The work from this long-term project will help coastal managers understand ...
Characterizing and Mapping Essential Fish Habitats...
The purpose of this project was to collect, integrate and map available information on the features of essential fish habitats in protected and non-protected marine areas around the islands of ...
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning: Identifying Toxic Specie...
Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is the most common, non-bacterial, seafood illness. The condition is caused by toxins from the microalga Gambierdiscus, and can lead to diarrhea, paralysis, and, in worst ...
Conservation Opportunity: Demobilized Bombing Rang...
The demobilized naval bombing range at the eastern end of the Island of Vieques had potential as a marine protected area (MPA) to conserve marine resources. To help with the ...
Contaminants in Marine Resources of Vieques
Land based sources of pollution have the potential to negatively impact a variety of coastal resources, including fisheries stocks. This study is investigating the public perception that pollution is negatively ...
Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC) – Solut...
The Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC) is a network of scientists and managers supporting conservation, restoration, and management goals to protect and restore coral reef ecosystems. Created in 2002, ...
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies: Integrating Science ...
In response to the continued decline of coral reef ecosystem health, we developed a research program to define and understand the causes and effects of reef degradation and provided managers ...
Coral Restoration: Developing Scientific Guidance ...
As coral restoration efforts continue to increase in size and number, there is an overwhelming need for information for scientific input into restoration spatial planning and siting, defining restoration success, ...
News
Study Finds Community Structure of Mesophotic Cora...
NCCOS-supported researchers documented that mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) at depths of 50 and 70 m in southwest Puerto Rico experienced significant interannual changes in community composition, demonstrating that caution should ...
Marine Benthic Algae of Puerto Rico Part I Publish...
Credit Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, Number 114. Smithsonian Scholarly Press. A new taxonomic study, “The Marine Benthic Algal Flora of Puerto Rico Part I” published by the Smithsonian Institution is ...
Virtually Explore Shallow Water Mapping Priorities...
NCCOS scientists are working to conduct a data needs assessment for each of the seven U.S. coral reef management jurisdictions (Figure 1). The team has developed an interactive hub “Coral Reef ...
NOAA Socioeconomic Research Highlights Impacts of ...
Fisher casts net to collect bait fish in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Credit: NOAA. Small-scale fishers and fish dealers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands surveyed in ...
NCCOS Contaminant Data Supports Listing of New EPA...
Puerto Rico’s Guánica Bay. Credit: US EPA Based on environmental contamination originally reported by NCCOS scientists, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed adding a site in Guánica, Puerto Rico, ...
Researchers Estimate Flood Protection Benefits of ...
Divers cache coral fragments for emergency stabilization in Puerto Rico. Credit: NOAA. In 2017, coral reefs buffered Florida and Puerto Rico from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, but were severely damaged ...
New Publication Shows Distribution of Threatened C...
A new modeling study by NOAA scientists and others at University of the Virgin Islands and Louisiana State University predicts the distribution of Orbicella corals in shallow and mesophotic reef ...
NCCOS Spatial Analysis Products get Shoutouts at F...
At the 2021 Esri Federal GIS Conference, two newly developed NCCOS spatial analysis products were acknowledged as GIS tools having a positive impact on human society and wellbeing. NCCOS’ Alaska ...
NCCOS Releases Priorities for U.S. Caribbean Seafl...
Results of the mapping prioritization effort are now published. Credit NOAA NCCOS. NCCOS scientists teamed with 15 participants from Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands local, federal, territory, and academic ...
Coral Assessment and Restoration Results Released ...
In September 2017, major hurricanes Irma and Maria impacted Puerto Rico (PR) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and caused considerable damage to shallow coral reefs. A newly released NOAA ...
Products
Maps, Tools & Applications
BIOMappers let you interactively view data, aerial imagery, dive photography, underwater video and related publications developed for the benthic habitat mapping of many U.S. coral reefs. In addition to viewing benthic habitat data, you can examine the attributes of the data and show different thematic representations. Photos and videos taken during dive missions are linked to the location of the dives.
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Data & Publications
Coral reef ecosystems of Reserva Natural La Parguera (Puerto Rico): Spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities (2001-2007)
The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily within the La Parguera Natural Reserve. The reserve is a multiuse area that spans the continental shelf from the extensive mangrove ...
Developing Social and Economic Indicators for Monitoring the U.S. Coral Reef Jurisdictions: Report from a Scientific Workshop to Support the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program, Hollings Marine Laboratory June 13-15, 2012
To support the development of indicators, methods and measures for the National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan, the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program sponsored a workshop for scientists to review the socioeconomic plan, validate and refine the indicators and develop secondary ...
Development of Benthic and Fish Monitoring Protocols for the Atlantic/Caribbean Biological Team: National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program is developing a national monitoring plan for all coral reefs under the US jurisdiction – including Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean. This National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) builds upon a decade of work supported ...
Environmental toxicology data collected by the National Status and Trends Program for monitoring contaminants in coastal United States marine water bodies from 01 Jan 1960 to 05 May 2010 (NODC Accession 0074376)
The National Status and Trends Program is comprised of three nationwide programs: Benthic Surveillance, Mussel Watch, and Bioeffects. These programs are in place to observe estuarine and coastal waters nationwide to describe the current status and detect changes in the ...
Feasibility of a Regionwide Probability Survey for Coral Reef Fish in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Fishery‐independent surveys can provide accurate and precise data for stock assessments and spatial management to sustain fishery resources as a complementary or alternative source of information to fishery‐dependent sampling. Four years of underwater visual survey data collected in several local ...
Fish density of El Seco, Puerto Rico from 2009-03-31 to 2009-04-02, Project NF-09-01-USVI, 2009, WGS84 (NCEI Accession 0137091)
This data contains densities of fishes detected using mobile fisheries sonar on board NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. The data were acquired in concert with a multibeam bathymetry survey off the coast of Vieques Island, Puerto Rico in 2009. Fish densities ...
Mapping Ecological Priorities and Human Impacts to Support Land-Sea Management of Puerto Rico's Northeast Marine Corridor
This report describes a spatial characterization conducted to support the development of an integrated management plan for Puerto Rico's Northeast Marine Corridor. The Northeast Marine Corridor is a large, landsea reserve network, making it unique in the region for both ...
Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems
This book summarizes what is known about mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) geographically and by major taxa. MCEs are characterized by light-dependent corals and associated communities typically found at depths ranging from 30-40 m and extending to over 150 m in ...
National Coastal Condition Report IV
This document contains the results and analysis from the fourth national coastal assessment, published in 2012 ...
National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Socioeconomic Monitoring Component: Summary Findings for Puerto Rico, 2015
This technical memorandum presents the findings from the initial Puerto Rico NCRMP socioeconomic data collection. The report presents preliminary social indicators and provides examples of how indicators can be used to analyze changes over time in a long-term setting. The ...
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