Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS)

Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) will be recovered after having been deployed for three years on both Moorea and Tetiaroa to compare the biotic assemblages between high island and low island reef communities. ARMS have become a standard for monitoring marine biodiversity and creating comparative baselines for marine communities particularly those associated with coral reefs, with now close to 2500 deployed worldwide. Because of the previous Moorea Biocode Project, ARMS from Moorea in particular are the best characterized marine communities among global sites. This trip will recover 6 ARMS from each of Moorea and Tetiaroa that have been soaking for three years, the standard deployment duration. Prior studies of ARMS on Moorea were for only one or two year deployments, and previous ARMS from Tetiaroa were displaced by storm events. Moreover, because both Moorea and Tetiaroa were deployed contemporaneously, we can directly compare recruitment period through the recovery process post-COTS.