National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in Puerto Rico from 2016-06-07 to 2017-09-01 (NCEI Accession 0174524)

Benthic data collection for the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program (NCRMP) consists of two concurrent surveys: the Benthic Assessment (BA) method and the Coral Demographic method. BA surveys provide benthic cover estimates for ecologically important cover types/groups (e.g., macroalgae, turf algae, crustose coralline algae, corals, sponges, sand/sediment, etc.) using a 1-stage stratified random survey design in hardbottom and coral reef habitats less than 30m in depth, including: (1) a quantification of percent cover of biotic and abiotic benthic components using a line point-intercept (LPI) method; (2) information on topographic complexity (substratum rugosity) of the survey locations (3) quantitative information on local commercially and ecologically-important macroinvertebrates (Caribbean spiny lobster [Panulirus argus], queen conch [Lobatus gigas], long-spined sea urchin [Diadema antillarum]); and (4) presence-absence information for ESA-listed Threatened corals. Coral demographic surveys provide information on species composition, density, size, abundance, and specific parameters of condition (% live vs. dead, bleaching, disease) of non-juvenile scleractinian corals (>4 cm maximum diameter), and of overall species diversity (all corals) using 10m x 1m belt transects in a stratified random sampling design in hardbottom and coral reef habitats less than 30m in depth. Data provided in this dataset are from around Puerto Rico, including the islands of Vieques, Culebra, Mona and Desecheo. Lead agencies involved include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), in collaboration with partners HJR Reefscaping, Inc., CSS, the University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, and the University of the Virgin Islands. Three datasets are provided under the Benthic Assessment and coral demographic protocols, and are distributed as one compiled package: (1) analysis ready benthic cover dataset, (2) analysis ready invertebrates/ESA dataset, and (3) analysis ready coral demographic dataset. The methodologies used for this survey can be found in the Benthic Assessment and coral demographic protocols included in this accession. All datasets contain data fields on general station information (e.g., survey strata, depth, rugosity). Each of these data tables contain additional survey-specific data fields. For complete information and descriptions of attributes and data fields for all data tables, refer to the data dictionaries.