Skip to main content
Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2013-07-08 to 2013-07-19 and from 2015-06-08 to 2015-07-24 (NCEI Accession 0224205)

browse graphicPreview graphic
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 (includes Line Point-Intercept) 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.
  • Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2021). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2013-07-08 to 2013-07-19 and from 2015-06-08 to 2015-07-24 (NCEI Accession 0224205). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0224205. In NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. 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].
gov.noaa.nodc:0224205
Full Text · XML
Download Data
  • HTTPS (download)
    Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.
  • FTP (download)
    These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).
Distribution Formats
  • CSV
  • ODS
  • SHP
  • PDF
Ordering Instructions Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
+1-301-713-3277
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 2013-07-08 to 2015-07-24
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -65.140929
East: -64.447134
South: 17.63673
North: 18.413788
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
  • National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands
  • National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2018). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2017-06-12 to 2017-08-04 (NCEI Accession 0176081). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0176081.
  • 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). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0215460.
  • NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (2018). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef fish communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.7289/v5f769mm.
  • National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2021). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef fish communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2013-07-08 to 2013-07-19 and from 2015-06-08 to 2015-07-24 (NCEI Accession 0224406). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0224406.
  • National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2018). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef fish communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2017-06-12 to 2017-08-04 (NCEI Accession 0176080). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0176080.
  • National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2020). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef fish communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2019-06-08 to 2019-08-09 (NCEI Accession 0216069). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0216069.
  • Coral Reef Conservation Program (2016). Documentation for NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) data archived at NCEI (NCEI Accession 0157633). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0157633.
  • NOAA's National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
  • National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Implementation: Biological and Socioeconomic Monitoring
  • OBIS USA: NCRMP Benthic Variables in Darwin Core Format
    • Parent ID (indicates this dataset is related to other data):
    • gov.noaa.nodc:NCRMP-Benthic-USVI
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2021-01-21
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed
Purpose 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).
Use Limitations
  • accessLevel: Public
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2021). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2013-07-08 to 2013-07-19 and from 2015-06-08 to 2015-07-24 (NCEI Accession 0224205). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0224205. In NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. 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].
Cited Authors
Principal Investigators
Collaborators
Contributors
Resource Providers
Points of Contact
Publishers
Acknowledgments
  • Funding Agency: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program
  • Funding Agency: NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Theme keywords NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS WMO_CategoryCode
  • oceanography
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus
  • Numeric Data Sets > Benthic
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat > Description
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species Richness
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > ESA Listed Species
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos analysis > Transect monitoring > Linear transect (point)
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Coral Colony Size and Condition
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords NCCOS Research Areas
  • Marine Spatial Ecology > Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments
NCCOS Research Data Types
  • Field Observation
  • Long-term Monitoring
Data Center keywords NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
Instrument keywords NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
Place keywords NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS CoRIS Place Thesaurus
  • COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. Croix > St. Croix (17N064W0003)
  • COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. John > St. John (18N064W0011)
  • COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > U. S. Virgin Islands > St. Thomas > St. Thomas (18N064W0033)
  • OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Leeward Islands > St. Thomas (18N064W0033)
  • OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Virgin Islands > St. Croix (17N064W0003)
  • OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > Caribbean Sea > Virgin Islands > Virgin Islands > St. John (18N064W0011)
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords NCCOS Regions of Study
  • U.S. States and Territories > U.S. Virgin Islands
  • Waterbodies > Caribbean Sea
Provider Place Names
  • Caribbean Sea
  • U.S. Virgin Islands
Project keywords NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS CRCP Project
  • 743
  • National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) Implementation
  • National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
Provider Project Names
  • NCCOS Project #180 National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Implementation: Biological and Socioeconomic Monitoring
Stratum keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Stratum Keywords
Keywords NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER
Keywords Send2NCEI Submission Package ID
  • RB1CKD
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS); Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) (2021). National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessment of coral reef benthic communities in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2013-07-08 to 2013-07-19 and from 2015-06-08 to 2015-07-24 (NCEI Accession 0224205). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0224205. In NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. 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].
Access Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Fees
  • In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media.
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2021-01-21T21:03:38Z - NCEI Accession 0224205 v1.1 was published.
Output Datasets
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2021-01-25T17:56:58Z - NCEI accession 0151728 was superseded by this accession.
    Rationale: NCEI accession 0151728 has been superseded by this accession. Please use and refer to this accession instead of NCEI accession 0151728.
  • 2021-01-25T17:58:17Z - NCEI accession 0151730 was superseded by this accession.
    Rationale: NCEI accession 0151730 has been superseded by this accession. Please use and refer to this accession instead of NCEI accession 0151730.
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • Parameter or Variable: BENTHIC SPECIES - TAXA COUNTS (measured); Units: count; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: visual observation; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Benthic taxa enumerated using Line Point-Intercept (LPI) Survey Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2013; 2015); Data Quality Method: Quality assurance checks for every data sheet and entry into database, as well as analytical checks for using query outputs.
  • Parameter or Variable: BENTHIC SPECIES (measured); Units: count; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: visual observation; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Abundance of Diadema antillarum, Panulirus argus, and Lobatus gigas species using Line Point-Intercept (LPI) Survey Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2013; 2015); Data Quality Method: Quality assurance checks for every data sheet and entry into database, as well as analytical checks for using query outputs.
  • Parameter or Variable: CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION (measured); Units: presence; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: visual observation; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Presence/absence of ESA-listed and potential ESA coral species using Line Point-Intercept (LPI) Survey Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2013; 2015); Data Quality Method: Quality assurance checks for every data sheet and entry into database, as well as analytical checks for using query outputs.
  • Parameter or Variable: CORAL (measured); Units: count; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: visual observation; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Coral colony counts, measurements and condition recorded using Coral Demographic Survey Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2013; 2015); Data Quality Method: Quality assurance checks for every data sheet and entry into database, as well as analytical checks for using query outputs.
  • Parameter or Variable: CORAL - CENSUS (measured); Units: colony; Observation Category: in situ; Sampling Instrument: ruler; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Coral colony counts, measurements and condition recorded using Coral Demographic Survey Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (2013; 2015); Data Quality Method: Quality assurance checks for every data sheet and entry into database, as well as analytical checks for using query outputs.
Acquisition Information (collection)
Instrument
  • visual observation
Last Modified: 2024-09-22T16:59:48Z
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov