Many aspects of the environment are outside the control of local or regional resource managers. These conditions may require concerted global action to affect change (e.g., water temperatures) or cannot be controlled at all (e.g., wave power). This layer synthesized spatial information for several non-managed conditions to create a relative score for how favorable a given location is for coral growth and survival. Present-day environmental conditions contributing to this layer included: marine calcite concentration (a proxy for ocean acidification), irradiance (photosynthetically available radiation, or PAR), thermal stress (Degree Heating Weeks), and wave power (per meter of wave front). Covariation in these conditions was accounted for using principal component analysis (PCA) to form composite variables of conditions that have strong relationships with one another. The resulting principal components were averaged and scaled from 0 (worst) to 1 (best) to produce the coral favorability score for non-managed conditions. These data are provided for the island of Guam as a raster with a resolution of 1500 m.

Managers have some ability to support healthy environmental conditions through strategic action at a local and regional scale, such as water quality. This layer synthesized spatial information for several managed conditions to create a relative score for how favorable a given location is for coral growth and survival. Environmental conditions contributing to this layer included: chlorophyll-a concentration, fish and herbivore biomass, turbidity (Kd490), and macroalgal cover. Covariation in these conditions was accounted for using principal component analysis (PCA) to form composite variables of conditions that have strong relationships with one another. The resulting principal components were averaged and scaled from 0 (worst) to 1 (best) to produce a coral favorability score for managed conditions. These data are provided as a raster with a resolution of 500 m for American Samoa, including Tutuila and the Manua Islands (Ofu, Olosega, and Tau).

The overall condition of the environment is a combination of managed and non-managed factors. While it is difficult for managers to prevent coral bleaching events, reefs experiencing fewer stressors may recover more quickly than reefs that were highly stressed at the time of bleaching. The scores for managed (see layer "as_usgs_tutma_coralscore_mgt") and non-managed conditions (see layer "as_usgs_tutma_coralscore_nonmgt") were averaged to produce an overall environmental favorability score. This layer represents a relative score for how favorable overall conditions are for coral growth and survival from a scale of 0 (worst) to 1 (best) in the present climate scenario. These data are provided as a raster with a resolution of 500 m for American Samoa, including Tutuila and the Manua Islands (Ofu, Olosega, and Tau).

Many aspects of the environment are outside the control of local or regional resource managers. These conditions may require concerted global action to affect change (e.g., water temperatures) or cannot be controlled at all (e.g., wave power). This layer synthesized spatial information for several non-managed conditions to create a relative score for how favorable a given location is for coral growth and survival. Environmental conditions contributing to this layer included: marine calcite concentration (a proxy for ocean acidification), irradiance (photosynthetically available radiation, or PAR), thermal stress (annual severe bleaching threshold), wave power (per meter of wave front), and proximity to soils eroded by sea level rise. Projections exist for how some of these conditions may change over the next century based on the trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions. This project explored how the relative favorability of non-managed conditions could change between the present climate scenario and the rest of the 21st century. This layer represents the future climate scenario for an intermediate emissions scenario (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5), in which global greenhouse gas emissions peak mid-century and then begin to fall. Covariation in these conditions was accounted for using principal component analysis (PCA) to form composite variables of conditions that have strong relationships with one another. The resulting principal components were averaged and scaled from 0 (worst) to 1 (best) to produce the coral favorability score for non-managed conditions. These data are provided as a raster with a resolution of 500 m for American Samoa, including Tutuila and the Manua Islands (Ofu, Olosega, and Tau).

The overall condition of the environment is a combination of managed and non-managed factors. While it is difficult for managers to prevent coral bleaching events, reefs experiencing fewer stressors may recover more quickly than reefs that were highly stressed at the time of bleaching. The scores for managed (see layer "gu_usgs_all_coralscore_mgt") and non-managed conditions (see layer "gu_usgs_all_coralscore_nonmgt") were averaged to produce an overall environmental favorability score. This layer represents a relative score for how favorable overall conditions are for coral growth and survival from a scale of 0 (worst) to 1 (best) in the present climate scenario. These data are provided for the island of Guam as a raster with a resolution of 1500 m.

This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs of relative environmental favorability for coral growth and survival in the United States territories of Guam and American Samoa across 3 climate scenarios: Present, Intermediate Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5), and Worst Case Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5). These datasets were generated from a synthesis of spatial variability in many environmental conditions, including thermal stress, wave power, irradiance, chlorophyll concentrations, macroalgal cover, calcite concentrations, turbidity, and erosion. Input conditions were classified as “Managed” or “Non-managed” based on whether the condition could be managed at the island scale. Environmental favorability scores range from 0 to 1, with 0 representing the worst observed conditions for coral and 1 representing the best observed conditions within each territory and scenario. The full methods and results are described in detail in the parent manuscript, “Where favorable environmental conditions and resilient corals coincide: Guam and American Samoa” (2022).

This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs of relative environmental favorability for coral growth and survival in the United States territories of Guam and American Samoa across 3 climate scenarios: Present, Intermediate Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5), and Worst Case Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5). These datasets were generated from a synthesis of spatial variability in many environmental conditions, including thermal stress, wave power, irradiance, chlorophyll concentrations, macroalgal cover, calcite concentrations, turbidity, and erosion. Input conditions were classified as “Managed” or “Non-managed” based on whether the condition could be managed at the island scale. Environmental favorability scores range from 0 to 1, with 0 representing the worst observed conditions for coral and 1 representing the best observed conditions within each territory and scenario. The full methods and results are described in detail in the parent manuscript, “Where favorable environmental conditions and resilient corals coincide: Guam and American Samoa” (2022).

This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs of relative environmental favorability for coral growth and survival in the United States territories of Guam and American Samoa across 3 climate scenarios: Present, Intermediate Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5), and Worst Case Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5). These datasets were generated from a synthesis of spatial variability in many environmental conditions, including thermal stress, wave power, irradiance, chlorophyll concentrations, macroalgal cover, calcite concentrations, turbidity, and erosion. Input conditions were classified as “Managed” or “Non-managed” based on whether the condition could be managed at the island scale. Environmental favorability scores range from 0 to 1, with 0 representing the worst observed conditions for coral and 1 representing the best observed conditions within each territory and scenario. The full methods and results are described in detail in the parent manuscript, “Where favorable environmental conditions and resilient corals coincide: Guam and American Samoa” (2022).

Shallow Corals were extracted from the Benthic Cover described herein by exporting all features classified as "B2.1.2" within the Biotic Cover Code field. Benthic cover (habitat) maps are derived from aerial imagery, underwater photos, acoustic surveys, and data gathered from sediment samples. Shallow to moderate-depth benthic habitat information assists ecosystem-based marine resource management. Many habitats, including hard and soft corals, are home to a diversity of marine organisms, which provide many important ecosystem services, including fishing, tourism, water quality enhancement, and shoreline protection. Coral reef ecosystems and associated bottom types are under increasing pressure from environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Mitigating these threats requires analyzing their spatial distribution, making benthic habitat mapping a key component to the conservation and management activities of state and federal agencies.

To understand and mitigate the impacts of land-based pollution on coral reef health, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH), and other researchers collected data to: 1) identify where high groundwater flows occur on the Puako reef system; 2) determine what is in the water by monitoring levels of bacteria and nutrients; and 3) assess whether degraded water quality can compromise coral health - and if so, which sites are most vulnerable.