Providing a benthic habitat classification manual, a benthic
habitat map for the nearshore waters of American Samoa, Guam,
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and
supplemental geospatial data. The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS)
initiated a coral reef research program in 1999 to map, assess,
inventory, and monitor U.S. coral reef ecosystems (Monaco et al.
2001). These activities were implemented in response to
requirements outlined in the Mapping Implementation Plan
developed by the Mapping and Information Synthesis Working Group
(MISWG) of the Coral Reef Task Force (CRTF) (MISWG 1999). As
part of the MISWG of the CRTF, NOS' Biogeography Branch has been
charged with the development and implementation of a plan to
produce comprehensive digital coral-reef ecosystem maps for all
U.S. States, Territories, and Commonwealths within five to seven
years. Joint activities between Federal agencies are
particularly important to map, research, monitor,