CRED Rapid Ecological Assessment Line Point Intercept Survey of Benthic Parameter Assessments at Lanai, Main Hawaiian Islands in 2010

Line point intercept (LPI) surveys and benthic composition assessments were conducted during Rapid Ecological Assessments (REA) as part of the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) cruise HA1008 in Main Hawaiian Islands from 20101007 to 20101105. Surveys are conducted by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) at biennial intervals to support a long-term NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) for sustainable management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems. During the cruise, 6 REA sites were surveyed at Lanai in Main Hawaiian Islands. Benthic biologists from NOAA's Coral Reef Ecosystem Division conducted Line Point Intercept surveys to quantitatively document the benthic cover at pre-determined long-term monitoring REA sites. Two linear 25 m transects were surveyed with a 5 m inter-transect region between the end of Transect 1 and the start of Transect 2. The LPI diver determines the benthic composition at 20 cm intervals for a total of 125 data points per transect. All living benthic elements (e.g., coral, algae, and other invertebrates) were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, often substituting functional group categories for turf algae and crustose coralline algae when identification in the field was extremely difficult. In cases where the substrate is bare or covered with turf algae, the substrate composition is also noted as either sand, rock, rubble, carbonate pavement, or dead coral. The data allows for the assessment and monitoring of species composition and abundance and provide the basis for computing quantitative estimates of percent cover at higher taxonomic levels like functional group (live coral, macroalgae, turf algae) or on a finer taxonomic resolution such as genus level.