National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2019-06-08 to 2019-08-09 (NCEI Accession 0215460)

Description

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) assessed coral reef communities in St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) using two benthic surveys: the Benthic Assessment (BA) and the Coral Demographic method. Benthic Assessment provides 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. The goals of these surveys are to provide: (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. The goal of the coral demographic surveys is to collect and report 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. Both Benthic Assessment and Coral Demographic surveys are concurrent. 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. 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

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Download Page NCEI Accession 0215460 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/archive-management-system/OAS/bin/prd/jquery/accession/download/0215460
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/71096
0 About SEFSC https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-fisheries-science-center
0 Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2020). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2019-06-08 to 2019-08-09 (NCEI Accession 0215460) https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0215460
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/sefsc/dmp/pdf/71096.pdf
0 Website listed for National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/
0 Download Page NCEI Accession 0215460 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/archive-management-system/OAS/bin/prd/jquery/accession/download/0215460
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/71096
0 Website listed for National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/sefsc/dmp/pdf/71096.pdf
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 About SEFSC https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-fisheries-science-center
0 Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2020). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2019-06-08 to 2019-08-09 (NCEI Accession 0215460) https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0215460
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/71096
0 Website listed for National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/
0 About SEFSC https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-fisheries-science-center
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/sefsc/dmp/pdf/71096.pdf
0 Download Page NCEI Accession 0215460 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/archive-management-system/OAS/bin/prd/jquery/accession/download/0215460
0 Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2020). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2019-06-08 to 2019-08-09 (NCEI Accession 0215460) https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0215460
0 Download Page NCEI Accession 0215460 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/archive-management-system/OAS/bin/prd/jquery/accession/download/0215460
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/71096
0 Website listed for National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/
0 About SEFSC https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-fisheries-science-center
0 Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2020). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2019-06-08 to 2019-08-09 (NCEI Accession 0215460) https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0215460
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/sefsc/dmp/pdf/71096.pdf

Tags

  • benthic communities
  • nccos research topics
  • nccos research data types
  • st. john (18n064w0011)
  • nccos research locations
  • united states of america
  • visual observation
  • coral reef conservation program (crcp)
  • ecological and biological characterization
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • aquatic habitat
  • virgin islands
  • coral reef
  • corals
  • coral bleaching
  • benthic
  • national ocean service
  • ecosystems
  • st. thomas (18n064w0033)
  • coral - colony size
  • nesdis
  • national centers for coastal ocean science
  • biosphere
  • coral - species identification
  • survey - coral reef
  • visual observations
  • esa listed species
  • biological data
  • habitat mapping
  • oceans
  • leeward islands
  • coral reef conservation program
  • 2019
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • description
  • survey - biological
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • coral - census
  • southeast fisheries science center
  • caribbean sea
  • lesser antilles
  • nmfs
  • biological classification
  • st. john
  • marine ecosystems
  • st. thomas
  • us doc
  • long-term monitoring
  • u. s. virgin islands (17n064w0000)
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/sefsc
  • fish
  • national coral reef monitoring program (ncrmp)
  • in situ
  • atlantic ocean
  • coral - bleaching
  • ecological/biological characterization
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • animals/vertebrates
  • benthic species - taxa counts
  • earth science
  • coral colony size and condition
  • national marine fisheries service
  • ocean
  • solid earth
  • monitoring
  • doc/noaa/nesdis/ncei
  • geomorphic landforms/processes
  • 0215460
  • doc/noaa/nos/nccos
  • biological
  • research priorities
  • national coral reef monitoring program: assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the u.s. vir
  • national coral reef monitoring plan (ncrmp) implementation
  • benthos analysis
  • survey - swimmer/diver
  • u.s. states and territories
  • transect monitoring
  • coastal landforms
  • reef habitat
  • ocean basin
  • habitat - benthic
  • coral
  • marine spatial ecology
  • coastal processes
  • swimmer/diver
  • linear transect (point)
  • benthic species
  • u.s. virgin islands
  • research data types
  • macroinvertebrate census
  • species richness
  • reef
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • research topics
  • u. s. virgin islands
  • field observation
  • north atlantic ocean
  • ecological dynamics
  • habitat
  • country/territory
  • st. croix (17n064w0003)
  • national centers for environmental information
  • nos
  • regions
  • nccos research priorities
  • coral reef studies
  • st. croix

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