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Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) of coral biodiversity and reef health in Manus and New Ireland Provinces, northern Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea

Created 23/06/2025

Updated 23/06/2025

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Fringing reefs at 19 locations in the Tigak Islands and 17 locations around Manus Island in the northern Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea were surveyed in August/September 2006. Locations were selected to provide the broadest range of reef habitat types. At each location, two sites were surveyed (deep: >10m and shallow: An inventory of species, genera and families of sessile benthic taxa was compiled for each site. The inventory included hard corals, soft corals, zoanthids, sponges, macro-algae and other sessile macro-benthos. At the end of each survey, the inventory was reviewed and each taxon was categorized in terms of its relative abundance in the community. For each hard coral taxon present, a visual estimate of the total amount of injury (dead surface area) present on colonies at each site was made in increments of 0.1, where 0 = no injury and 1 = all colonies dead. In addition, for each taxon, the proportion of colonies in each of three size classes (up to 10cm, 10 to 50cm and greater than 50cm colony diameter) was recorded. When identification of hard coral species was not possible, notes and photographs were taken and, if necessary, small samples were collected for later examination. Most specimens were lodged with the local TNC Office for use as a reference collection. Some coral samples were taken to Australia to compare with reference collections in the Museum of Tropical Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.At the end of each survey, site attributes were recorded based on an assessment integrated over the length of the survey. Attributes included percentage cover of major benthic groups and substrate types, biogenic reef development, exposure to wave energy, depth range, angle of the reef slope, visibility (m) and the presence of any unique or outstanding biological features or evidence of impacts. 1. To conduct a survey of species diversity by identifying hard and soft corals and other benthic marine organisms and by compiling a detailed list of species for each site and for the survey region in general2. To assess coral community types, their current status and health, and the extent of impacts on these reefs from disturbances such as coral bleaching, crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, destructive fishing practices, and terrestrial runoff The method used was similar to that employed during biodiversity assessments for TNC and other agencies in other parts of the Indo-West Pacific, Indonesia and Australia and provides the opportunity for future comparisons of species diversity, composition and community structure of these different areas in terms of their coral communities.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) of coral biodiversity and reef health in Manus and New Ireland Provinces, northern Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/1b626793-eada-4dbb-a482-19171a456128
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
adc@aims.gov.au
Reference Period 20/11/2017
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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  "type": "Polygon"
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Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) of coral biodiversity and reef health in Manus and New Ireland Provinces, northern Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/rapid-ecological-assessment-rea-of-coral-biodiversity-and-reef-health-in-manus-and-new-ireland-1