Coral Demographics Survey Field Protocols for U.S. Atlantic: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands 2022

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP)'s biological sampling provides a biennal ecological characterization of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals, and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition, density, and size; coral species composition, density, size, condition; and benthic community cover) at a broad spatial scale ( CRCP 2021). In the U.S. Atlantic, NCRMP biological sampling includes coral reef and hardbottom habitats in Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NCRMP conducts surveys at stratified random sites where the sampling domain for each geographic region is partitioned by habitat type and depth, sub-regional location (e.g., along-shelf position), and management zone.

NCRMP surveying provides data from a broader geographic context that complements a mosaic of regional and local (site-specific) coral reef monitoring. For corals and benthic communities, NCRMP data are compatible with stratified random sampling programs (Florida Reef Resilience Program's Disturbance Response Monitoring (DRM, Florida; 2005-present), and Sanctuary Coral Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring [SCREAM, Florida; 1999, “2011]). Coral reef monitoring is also led by each region in programs that include the Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (CREMP, Florida), the U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program (TCRMP, USVI), and the Puerto Rico Coral Monitoring Program [PR CRMP]). Other sampling programs occur Caribbean-wide (e.g., Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment [AGRRA, Caribbean-wide])

Coral Demographics Survey Field Protocols for U.S. Atlantic: Florida,

Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

2022 doi: 10.25923/9a1r-m911