NCRMP Sample Frame Development Protocols for U.S. Caribbean and FGBNMS

Describes the protocols developed from 2013-2018 to design and generate a gridded, stratified sample frame for particular study regions monitored by NOAA's NOS/NCCOS/Biogeography Branch and its partners as part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) directed by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). A stratified random sample selection (using weighted strata allocations) is applied to a region's sample frame to select sites for each survey mission. These regions are surveyed biennially, and each sample frame is updated or re-created prior to each survey mission to incorporate new strata data or reflect protocol changes as they have evolved and improved over the years.

To describe the sampling designs used to monitor coral reefs and associated biological communities around Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) as part of NCRMP that were done for 2016