National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral communities in the Florida Reef Tract from 2014-05-01 to 2014-10-01 (NCEI Accession 0156879)

This coral demographics protocol was devised to provide additional, species-specific insight (and signal magnitude) for corals than is provided by percent cover. Specifics of the protocol are based closely on other long-established monitoring programs in the Atlantic region, including Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA; Caribbean-wide), Sanctuaries Coral Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring, Florida (SCREAM), and the Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP). However, the sampling resolution may not capture the population structure of rare or uncommon corals, including currently-listed or candidate Endangered Species Act (ESA) species.

Precise designations of coral condition (e.g. attributed disease, minor bleaching/paling conditions) are NOT included in this data. This is due to the low temporal resolution of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) sampling (biennial and potentially not seasonally consistent) and the wide array of surveyors involved, which is why the survey protocol is designed to capture the least ambiguous colony conditions likely to be encountered: recent mortality (i.e. dead white skeleton) and bright-white bleaching on a partial or an entire coral colony.

The Line Point-Intercept (LPI) sampling is designed to provide resolution of benthic cover estimates for ecologically important cover types/groups (e.g. macroalgae, turf algae, crustose coralline algae, corals, sponges, sand/sediment, etc.). More detailed information on scleractinian corals, specifically density, size, and condition (percent mortality and bleaching) measurements, is being collected via the NCRMP Coral Demographics sampling.

Tags: 0156879, 156879, 2014, animals/vertebrates, atlantic ocean, belt transect, benthic, benthic communities, benthic species, biological, biological classification, biological data, biology, biosphere, coastal landforms, coastal waters of florida, coral, coral reef conservation program, coral reef conservation program (crcp), coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, depth - observation, diver visual survey, doc/noaa/nesdis/ncei, doc/noaa/nmfs/sefsc, doc/noaa/nos/nms, doi/nps, earth science, ecosystems, fish, fish - coral reef, fish and wildlife research institute, fish census, fish species, florida, florida fish and wildlife conservation commission, florida florida keys national marine sanctuary, florida keys national marine sanctuary, florida reef tract (26n080w0007), florida state department of environmental protection, geomorphic landforms/processes, gulf of america, gulf of mexico, habitat, habitat - benthic, in situ, marine biology, marine ecosystems, national centers for environmental information, national coral reef monitoring plan (ncrmp) implementation, national coral reef monitoring program (ncrmp), national marine fisheries service, national marine sanctuaries, national ocean service, national park service, nesdis, nmfs, noaa, north atlantic ocean, nos, nova southeastern university, numeric data sets, ocean, ocean basin, oceans, onms, reef fish census, reef monitoring and assessment, rosenstiel school of marine and atmospheric science, rosenstiel school of marine and atmospheric science university of miami, solid earth, southeast fisheries science center, species identification, species identification - count, survey - biological, survey - coral reef, survey - swimmer/diver, swimmer/diver, u-miami/rsmas, u.s. department of commerce, u.s. department of the interior, united states of america, university of miami, us doc, us doi, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce