National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Data provided in this dataset were collected around the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) as part of NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)-led missions in collaboration with partners at the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Fisheries Science Center, the National Park Service, USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources, University of the Virgin Islands, University of Miami, Nova Southeastern University, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Benthic data collection for the ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) consists of two survey types: the Line Point-Intercept (LPI) method and the Coral Demographic method. The LPI method provides a measure of percent cover of biotic and abiotic components of the benthos in a stratified random sampling design in hardbottom and coral reef habitats. The coral demographics protocol provide more detailed and species-specific insights (signal magnitude) for coral populations than is provided by percent cover.

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) details a long-term approach to provide an ecosystem perspective via monitoring climate, fish, benthic, and socioeconomic variables in a consistent and integrated manner. The NCRMP is intended to coordinate various Coral Reef Conservation Coral Reef Program (CRCP) biological, physical, and human dimensions activities into a cohesive NOAA-wide effort. Through the implementation of the NCRMP, NOAA will be able to clearly and concisely communicate results of national-scale monitoring to national, state, and territorial policy makers, resource managers, and the public on a periodic basis. NCRMP is a framework for conducting sustained observations of biological, climate, and socioeconomic indicators at 10 priority coral reefs across the U.S. and its territories. This integrated approach will consolidate monitoring of coral reefs under a uniform method in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. NCRMP is funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and supported by NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and many other partners. NCCOS is co-leading biological monitoring missions with NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) to gather data on fish populations and coral reef communities in the U.S. Caribbean, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico. Each year, our scientists work closely with CRCP and local partners to collect biological data from thousands of strategically selected sites. We then use innovative analysis techniques to develop products that give fellow scientists, managers, decision makers and the public a better understanding of a region’s resources and how they are changing over time. The biological component of NCRMP provides a biennial ecological characterization at a broad spatial scale of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition/density/size, benthic cover, and coral density/size/condition). Data collection occurs at stratified random sites where the sampling domain for each region is partitioned by habitat type and depth, sub-regional location (e.g., along-shelf position) and management zone. Data provided in this dataset are from St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, and surrounding Sail Rock and mid-shelf reef region. Lead agencies involved include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and the National Park Service (NPS).

Cite as: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (2018). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.7289/v5ww7fqk. Accessed [date].