Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • BCO-DMO Processing Description
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

The ecological methods are described in detail in Edmunds et al. (2023), and are briefly summarized below. 

The study utilized the time series of the Moorea Coral Reef LTER, as they relate to coral community dynamics on the north shore fore reef. Annual measurements of coral cover, the density of coral settlers, and the density of small corals were used together with records of the environmental conditions to which they were exposed. Analyses focused on 2008–2021, which captured the final years of the last population outbreak of the crown of thorns (COTs) sea star, the coral population recovery that took place between 2010 and 2019, and coral mortality attributed to bleaching in 2019. Biological data came from two sites (LTER1 and LTER2) that are ~ 3 km apart, with environmental data from the same or similar sites (temperature), one of the two sites (flow at LTER1), or from 4.5 km resolution remote sensing data (Chlorophyll a).

Coral cover was measured annually (April except for 2020 [August] and 2021 [May]) at 10-m depth along a 50 m, permanently marked transect at LTER 1 and LTER 2. Along each transect, 40 photoquadrats (0.5 × 0.5 m) were photographed at positions that were randomly selected in 2005, but fixed thereafter. Pictures were illuminated with strobes, and analyzed using CPCe or CoralNET software with manual annotation of 200 randomly located points on each image. Substrata beneath the points were categorized to coral genus, and the percentage cover for all corals (scleractinians and Millepora) and Pocillopora spp., is reported. The changes in cover of corals (scleractinians and Millepora) provided a holistic summary of the coral community consistent with how we have described it elsewhere and how it is described in the broader scientific literature on coral reefs. The separate summary for Pocillopora spp. provided a measure of coral cover that is the product of the most abundant coral settlers found on tiles deployed in the same habitat (i.e., pocilloporids). The density of small corals (≤ 4-cm diameter) was quantified in the field annually, shortly after the photoquadrats were recorded (but not in 2020 due to COVID-19), and was completed using quadrats (0.5 × 0.5 m) placed in the same positions as the photoquadrats. The benthos, including beneath branching corals, was inspected for small corals that were recorded to genus, and the densities of all corals and Pocillopora spp. are reported in units of corals 0.25 m-2.

* See "Related Datasets" section for access to related dataset pages which include dataset-specific methodology.

* Sheet "Small corals" of file "Small_Corals.xlsx" was imported into the BCO-DMO data system with values "nd" as missing data values. 
* Sheet "Outer 10 m" of file "Small_Corals.xlsx" was disregarded as directed by the submitter.
** Missing data values are displayed differently based on the file format you download.  They are blank in csv files, "NaN" in MatLab files, etc.
* Column names adjusted to conform to BCO-DMO naming conventions designed to support broad re-use by a variety of research tools and scripting languages. [Only numbers, letters, and underscores.  Can not start with a number]
* dataset references to results publication Edmunds et al 2023 changed to 2024 since that was the year associated with the DOI after final publication. Edmunds et al. (2024, doi:10.1007/s00442-024-05517-y)

NSF Award Abstract:

Coral reefs provide important benefits to society, from food to exceptional biodiversity to shoreline protection and recreation, but they are threatened by natural perturbations and human activities, including those causing global-scale changes. These pressures increasingly are causing coral reefs to undergo large, often abrupt, ecological changes where corals are being replaced by seaweeds or other undesirable organisms. Historically, the major agent of disturbance to coral reefs has been powerful storms, but in recent decades, episodes of mass coral bleaching from marine heat waves have become more frequent and severe as the temperature of ocean surface waters continues to rise. Coral reefs are further stressed by local human activities that cause nutrient pollution and deplete herbivorous fishes that control growth of seaweeds. Studying how coral reefs respond to these two types of disturbance under different levels of nutrient pollution and fishing provides essential information on what affects the ability of coral reefs to buffer environmental change and disturbances without collapsing to a persistent, degraded condition. The fundamental goals of the Moorea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research program (MCR LTER) are to understand how and why coral reefs change over time, to assess the consequences of these changes, and to contribute scientific knowledge needed to sustain coral reef ecosystems and the important societal services they provide. This research improves understanding and management of coral reefs, which benefits all groups concerned with the welfare of this ecologically, economically and culturally important ecosystem. In addition to academic communities, scientific findings are communicated to interested individuals, non-governmental organizations, island communities and governmental entities. These findings also are integrated into K-12, undergraduate, graduate and public education activities through a multi-pronged program that includes inquiry-based curricula, interactive and media-based public education programs, and internet-based resources. MCR?s research, training, education and outreach efforts all emphasize broadening participation in STEM fields and strengthening STEM literacy.

New research activities build on MCR LTER?s powerful foundation of long-term observations and broad ecological understanding of oceanic coral reefs to address the following core issues: How is the changing disturbance regime (recurrent heat waves in addition to cyclonic storms) altering the resilience of coral reefs, and what are the ecological consequences of altered resilience? Research activities are organized around a unifying framework that explicitly addresses how reef communities are affected by the nature and history of coral-killing disturbances, and how those responses to disturbance are influenced by the pattern of local human stressors. New studies answer three focal questions: (1) How do different disturbance types, which either remove (storms) or retain (heat waves) dead coral skeletons, affect community dynamics, abrupt changes in ecological state, and resilience? (2) How do local stressors interact with new disturbance regimes to create spatial heterogeneity in community dynamics, ecosystem processes, and spatial resilience? And (3) What attributes of coral and coral reef communities influence their capacity to remain resilient under current and future environmental conditions? These questions provide an unparalleled opportunity to test hypotheses and advance theory regarding ecological resilience and the causes and consequences of abrupt ecological change, which is broadly relevant across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

From http://www.lternet.edu/sites/mcr/ and http://mcr.lternet.edu/:
The Moorea Coral Reef LTER site encompasses the coral reef complex that surrounds the island of Moorea, French Polynesia (17°30'S, 149°50'W). Moorea is a small, triangular volcanic island 20 km west of Tahiti in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. An offshore barrier reef forms a system of shallow (mean depth ~ 5-7 m), narrow (~0.8-1.5 km wide) lagoons around the 60 km perimeter of Moorea. All major coral reef types (e.g., fringing reef, lagoon patch reefs, back reef, barrier reef and fore reef) are present and accessible by small boat.

The MCR LTER was established in 2004 by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and is a partnership between the University of California Santa Barbara and California State University, Northridge. MCR researchers include marine scientists from the UC Santa Barbara, CSU Northridge, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, CSU San Marcos, Duke University and the University of Hawaii. Field operations are conducted from the UC Berkeley Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station on the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.

MCR LTER Data: The Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER data are managed by and available directly from the MCR project data site URL shown above.  The datasets listed below were collected at or near the MCR LTER sampling locations, and funded by NSF OCE as ancillary projects related to the MCR LTER core research themes.

This project is supported by continuing grants with slight name variations:

• LTER: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR II - Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR IIB: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR III: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR IV: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem

adapted from http://www.lternet.edu/

The National Science Foundation established the LTER program in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena in the United States. The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collaborative effort involving more than 1800 scientists and students investigating ecological processes over long temporal and broad spatial scales. The LTER Network promotes synthesis and comparative research across sites and ecosystems and among other related national and international research programs. The LTER research sites represent diverse ecosystems with emphasis on different research themes, and cross-site communication, network publications, and research-planning activities are coordinated through the LTER Network Office.

2017 LTER research site map obtained from https://lternet.edu/site/lter-network/