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openCC (other)Jul 2025View details →

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Scleractinian corals

These data are evidence of the the long-term dynamics of shallow coral reefs along the south coast of St. John from as early as 1987. These data describe coral reef community structure as percent cover based on the analysis of color photographs. All of these data originate from color images of photoquadrats recorded annually (usually in the summer) from as early as 1987. The data falls into three groups. The two groups that are contained in this data package are (1) Tektite & Yawzi and (2) Random sites. The juvenile coral density is packaged separately. Tektite – this is at 14 m depth on the eastern side of Great Lameshur Bay and is the original site of the Tektite man-in-the sea project in 1969; this project marked the birth of the Virgin Islands Ecological Research Station (later the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station) that hosts the field component of the project. The reef in this location consists of a single buttress that has remained dominated by Montastraea anularis since the start of the research (1987). These surveys consist of 30 photoquadrats (1 x 1 m) distributed along three, 10 m transects. Yawzi – this is at 9 m depth and is on the western side of Great Lameshur Bay and has been recorded photographically since 1987. This reef also started the study period dominated by Montastraea annularis, but has degraded much more rapidly that the Tektite site. These surveys consist of 30 photoquadrats (1 x 1 m) distributed along three, 10 m transects. Random sites – were added in 1992 to address the concern that the original sites (Yawzi and Tektite) were selected on “good” areas of reef and, therefore, could only decline in condition. The Random sites were selected using random coordinates in 1992, and consist of 6 sites (at 7-9 m depth) scattered between Cabritte Point and White Point. All lie a little shoreward of Yawzi and Tektite, and have always been characterized by low coral cover (< 10% cover). The surveys consist of 18-40 photoquadrats (0.5 x 0

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Diadema antillarum

A potential consequence of individuals compensating for density-dependent processes is that rare or infrequent events can produce profound and long-term shifts in species abundance. In 1983–1984 a mass mortality event reduced the numbers of the abundant sea urchin Diadema antillarum by 95–99% throughout the caribbean and western atlantic. Following this event, the abundance of macroalgae increased and the few surviving D. antillarum responded by increasing in body size and fecundity. these initial observations suggested that populations of D. antillarum could recover rapidly following release from food limitation. In contrast, published studies of field manipulations indicate that this species had traits making it resistant to density-dependent effects on offspring production and adult mortality; this evidence raises the possibility that density-independent processes might keep populations at a diminished level. Decadal scale (1983–2011) monitoring of recruitment, mortality, population density and size structure of D. antillarum from st John, us Virgin Islands, indicates that population density has remained relatively stable and more than an order of magnitude lower than that before the mortality event of 1983–1984. We detected no evidence of density-dependent mortality or recruitment since this mortality event. In this location, model estimates of equilibrium population density, assuming density-independent processes and based on parameters generated over the first decade following the mortality event, accurately predict the low population density 20 years later (2011). We find no evidence to support the notion that this historically dominant species will rebound from this temporally brief, but spatially widespread, perturbation.

openOpenAug 2021View details →

Rabbit Population Dynamics in Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands and Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1992-present) (Reformatted to the ecocomDP Design Pattern)

This data package is formatted as an ecocomDP (Ecological Community Data Pattern). For more information on ecocomDP see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP. This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-sev/23/121705. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: This study explores the population dynamics of black-tail jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) and desert cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus auduboni) in the grasslands and creosote shrublands of McKenzie Flats, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. The study was initiated in January 1992, and continues quarterly each year. Rabbits are sampled via night-time spotlight transect sampling along the roads of McKenzie Flats once during winter, spring, summer, and fall. The route is 21.5 miles long. Measurements of perpendicular distance of each rabbit from the center of the road are used to estimate densities (number of rabbits per square kilometer) via Program DISTANCE. Results from January 1992 to May 2004 indicated that spring was the period of peak density period, with generally steady declines through the rest of the year until the following spring. Evidence of a long-term "cycle" (e.g., the 11-year-cycle reported for rabbits in the Great Basin Desert) does not appear in the Sevilleta rabbit populations.

openCC (other)Aug 2021View details →

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Scleractinian corals (Reformatted to the ecocomDP Design Pattern)

This data package is formatted as an ecocomDP (Ecological Community Data Pattern). For more information on ecocomDP see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP. This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/edi/291/2. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: These data are evidence of the the long-term dynamics of shallow coral reefs along the south coast of St. John from as early as 1987. These data describe coral reef community structure as percent cover based on the analysis of color photographs. All of these data originate from color images of photoquadrats recorded annually (usually in the summer) from as early as 1987. The data falls into three groups. The two groups that are contained in this data package are (1) Tektite & Yawzi and (2) Random sites. The juvenile coral density is packaged separately. Tektite – this is at 14 m depth on the eastern side of Great Lameshur Bay and is the original site of the Tektite man-in-the sea project in 1969; this project marked the birth of the Virgin Islands Ecological Research Station (later the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station) that hosts the field component of the project. The reef in this location consists of a single buttress that has remained dominated by Montastraea anularis since the start of the research (1987). These surveys consist of 30 photoquadrats (1 x 1 m) distributed along three, 10 m transects. Yawzi – this is at 9 m depth and is on the western side of Great Lameshur Bay and has been recorded photographically since 1987. This reef also started the study period dominated by Montastraea annularis, but has degraded much more rapidly that the Tektite site. These surveys consist of 30 photoquadrats (1 x 1 m) distributed along three, 10 m transects. Random sites – were added in 1992 to address the concern that the original sites (Yawzi and Tektite) were selected on “good” a

openCustomJul 2020View details →

Insect Population Dynamics on the Main Cropping System Experiment at the Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI (1989 to 2019)

Dataset Abstract Plant dwelling insect occurrence in the LTER main site (all treatments) of the KBS-LTER has been recorded since 1989 and in the successional and forest sites since 1993. The effort has focused on characterizing the temporal and spatial abundance and diversity of a set of insects representative of a higher order insect trophic level, the herbivore predators. The insect database contains more than 400,000 records and consists of counts of adult insects of fourteen species of Coccinellidae, one species of Chrysopidae, and one species of Lampyridae from 30 sample sites in each of the seven treatments in the LTER Main Site. The standard method used to measure these organisms is a yellow sticky trap. Sampling is conducted weekly during the growing season as described in the sampling protocol. original data source http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/datasets/26

openCC (other)Apr 2022View details →

MCR LTER: Coral Reef: Long-Term Coral Population and Community Dynamics: Annual Island Wide Coral Demography Survey 2011 ongoing

Demographic performance (recruitment, growth, and survival) are quantified annually for multiple individual colonies of the three most common genera (Acropora, Pocillopora, Porites) at both backreef and forereef sites. Each coral was tagged in 2011 and subsequently sampled again in 2012 to track colony growth and mortality dynamics. However, since 2013, investigators have transitioned to identifying coral through detailed mapping methodology and will continue to identify corals using this method in the subsequent years. The mapping system developed in 2013 provides data appropriate for detailed demographic study of coral on varying spatial scales around the island. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE 16-37396 (and earlier awards) as well as a generous gift from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Research was completed under permits issued by the French Polynesian Government (Délégation à la Recherche) and the Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie Francaise (DTRT) (Protocole d'Accueil 2005-2022). This work represents a contribution of the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER Site.

openCC (other)Mar 2024View details →

Small Mammal Mark-Recapture Population Dynamics at Core Research Sites at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1989-present)

This file contains mark/recapture trapping data collected from 1989-present on permanently established web trapping arrays at sites on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico.. The trapping sites are representative of Chihuahuan Desert Grassland, Chihuahuan Desert Shrubland, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Juniper Savanna, Plains-Mesa Sand Scrub and Blue Grama Grassland. Not all sites have been trapped for the entire period: goatdraw (1992-2008), blue grama (2002-2004) rsgrass (1989-1998), rslarrea (1989-2009), two2 (1989-1998), savanna (1999-2002). Only 2 sites have been continuously been sampled since 1989 (5pgrass and 5plarrea). At each site 3 trapping webs are sampled for 3 consecutive nights in spring and fall. Each trapping web consists of 145 rebar stakes numbered from 1-145. There are 148 traps deployed on each web: 12 along each of 12 spokes radiating out from a central point (stake #145) plus 4 traps placed at the center of each web. The wide format facilitates community composition and species diversity analyses. Wide format has been reshaped so that the count data for each species are presented in a unique column. Data are summarized for each trapping web X trapping bout to present the mean number of animals per trap per night of the trapping bout. Wide format fills zeros for species that were not captured on a web during a given trapping bout. Long format facilitates filtering the dataset to a particular small mammal species of interest, but this format requires the addition of zeros to be functional for accurate data analysis requiring counts of animals.

opengpl-2.0Nov 2014View details →

Sudden_Oak_Death_in_Oregon_Forests: Spatial and temporal population dynamics of the sudden oak death epidemic in Oregon Forests

Release of code associated with the submitted manuscript Authors ZN Kamvar, MM Larsen, AM Kanaskie, EM Hansen, and NJ Grünwald. Title Spatial and temporal population dynamics of the sudden oak death epidemic in Oregon Forests.

opencc-by-sa-4.0Dec 2016View details →

The within-host population dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis vary with treatment efficacy.

Data used for the publication of a paper entitled: The within-host population dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis vary with treatment efficacy. The data were derived from: 1. the deep sequencing of serial sputum samples from 12 TB patients, 2. the deep sequencing of liquid cultures derived from the expansion of individual colonies in vitro, 3. In silico simulations of DNA sequencing, populations and mutagenesis. The analytical scripts associated with the generation of the data can be found at: https://github.com/swisstph/TBRU_serialTB/ Paper Abstract: Background: Combination therapy is one of the most effective tools for limiting the emergence of drug resistance. Despite the widespread adoption of combination therapy across diseases, drug resistance rates continue to rise, leading to failing treatment regimens. The mechanisms underlying treatment failure are well studied, but the processes governing successful combination therapy are poorly understood. We addressed this question by studying the population dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within tuberculosis patients undergoing treatment with different combinations of antibiotics. Results: By combining very deep whole genome sequencing (~1,000-fold genome-wide coverage) with sequential sputum sampling, we were able to detect transient genetic diversity driven by the apparently continuous turnover of minor alleles, which could serve as the source of drug-resistant bacteria. However, we report that treatment efficacy had a clear impact on the population dynamics: sufficient drug pressure bore a clear signature of purifying selection leading to apparent genetic stability. In contrast, M. tuberculosis populations subject to less drug pressure showed markedly different dynamics, including cases of acquisition of additional drug resistance. Conclusions: Our findings show that for a pathogen like M. tuberculosis, which is well adapted to the human host, purifying selection constrains the evolutionary trajectory to resistance in effectively treated individuals. Nonetheless, we also report a continuous turnover of minor variants, which could give rise to the emergence of drug resistance in cases of drug pressure weakening. Monitoring bacterial population dynamics could therefore provide an informative metric for assessing the efficacy of novel drug combinations.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2022View details →

Data for: Seasonal dynamics of faunal diversity and population ecology in an estuarine seagrass bed

These are the data used in the analyses described in the paper titled "Seasonal dynamics of faunal diversity and population ecology in an estuarine seagrass bed", accepted at Estuaries and Coasts. We acknowledge the tangata whenua for the rohe in which these data were collected, Ngāi Tārewa and Ngāti Īrakehu. We thank the Akaroa Taiāpure for their support of this research. The data included are: Raw count data of taxa for each tow, associated with additional metadata including the date of collection, tow coordinates, and estimated seagrass cover (MonthlyRawSampling_Duvauchelle_2020.csv). This data was put through cleaning steps outlined in the file docs/dataCleaning.Rmd prior to being used in any analyses. The cleaned community composition data (cleanedCommunity.csv), output from <a href="https://github.com/spflanagan/ecology-duvauchelle/blob/main/docs/dataCleaning.Rmd">docs/dataCleaning.Rmd</a> and used in the downstream community and population analyses. The GPS coordinates for the tows (gpsdat.csv). These were extracted from the raw data in the data cleaning process. NZsyngnathids_measurements.csv contains the measurements of the pipefish from images. These data also underwent a cleaning process documented in <a href="https://github.com/spflanagan/ecology-duvauchelle/blob/main/docs/dataCleaning.Rmd">docs/dataCleaning.Rmd</a>. The cleaned pipefish trait data (pipefishTraits.csv), output from docs/dataCleaning.Rmd and used in the downstream population analysis documented in <a href="https://github.com/spflanagan/ecology-duvauchelle/blob/main/docs/populationAnalyses.Rmd">docs/populationAnalyses.Rmd</a>.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

Supplementary material for "Dynamics of a goshawk population across half a century is driven by the variation of first-year survival"

Abstract Population dynamics are driven by stochastic and density-dependent processes acting on demographic rates. Individuals differ demographically, and to capture these differences, models of population dynamics are usually structured by age and stage, rarely by sex. An effect of sex on population dynamics is expected if the dynamics of males and females differ, requiring an unequal sex ratio at birth and/or sex-specific survival probabilities. Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) show large sexual size dimorphism and differential survival, but it is unknown whether males and females contribute differently to population dynamics. We studied a goshawk population in northern Germany over 47 years using brood monitoring data, collected feathers and nestling ringing data. We jointly analyzed the data using a two-sex integrated population model and performed retrospective and prospective population analyses to understand whether the demographic drivers of population change differ between the sexes. The population showed large fluctuations, during which the number of breeding pairs doubled, but the long-term trend of the population was slightly negative. Female survival exceeded male survival during the first year of life. Females started to reproduce at a younger age than males, productivity increased with female age, the sex ratio of nestlings was male biased and there was moderate male immigration. Despite these differences, temporal variation in sex ratio did not contribute to population dynamics and the contribution of temporal variation in survival was similar for both sexes. Variation in first-year survival was the strongest driver in this population, regulated by a weak density-dependent feedback acting through female first-year survival. Overall, the contributions of the two sexes to population dynamics were similar in this monogamous species with strong sexual size dimorphism. Read me Data files and code for carrying out all analyses and generating all figures presented in the paper. The six data files are provided in csv format. There are five code files written for R, but some of the main analyses require the NIMBLE software. The main code (IPM_Code.txt) contains a description of the data, code for loading and managing the data, and for fitting the integrated population models. The other files contain custom written functions (Functions.txt), code for performing posterior predictive tests (PPT_Code.txt), code for reporting results and performing various other analyses (Output_analyses_Code.txt), and code for generating figures (Figures_Code.txt).

restrictedcc-by-4.0Jul 2024View details →

Data and code from: "Building multidimensional tolerance landscapes to predict the population dynamics of bacteria exposed to antibiotics in urban sewers"

City sewers harbor diverse bacterial communities exposed to various antibiotic residues resulting from human consumption and excretion. Although these residues typically occur at sub-inhibitory concentrations, they can still impact the growth rate and yield of susceptible wastewater bacteria. Many bacteria exhibit antibiotic tolerance through transient phenotypic changes. Antibiotic residues, combined with complex environmental factors like temperature and salinity, especially in coastal cities, contribute to non-additive interactions that modulate antibiotic tolerance and affect population dynamics. To better understand these interactions, we developed continuous multivariate tolerance landscapes for three bacterial species: Escherichia coli, the emerging pathogen Streptococcus suis, and the sewer-inhabiting Arcobacter cryaerophilus. We modeled their intrinsic growth rates and carrying capacities across complex environments, incorporating temperature, salinity, and concentrations of two antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and azithromycin). Using these multivariate tolerance curves, we predicted microbial population dynamics in two sewers of Barcelona, highlighting the importance of environmental complexity in shaping microbial responses to antibiotic stressors.   Usage Users can perform the analysis by running the R script (TC3D.R) after the installation of all package mentioned in the preamble,  This folder contains: - 3 datasets with OD measures for the 3 species:               * data_acrya.xlsx               * data_ecoli.xlsx               * data_ssuis.xlsx - 1 excel files with metadata (plate, well, species, environmental conditions)               * map_plate_all.xlsx - 4 datasets giving time series of the flow and several measures including  conductivity and   temperaturefor 2 sewers of Barcelona obtained from sample cabines  set during the implementation of SCOREWATER (ID:820751)               * carmel_flow.csv               * carmel_quality.csv               * poblenou_flow.csv               * poblenou_quality.csv - 1 C++ script compiled and run with the R TMB package:               * fit_growth_r_K_SS_treatment.cpp : computes the negative loglikelihood for r and K, and state DOs, given the observed DO, for the populations under one same environmental treatment (salinity * temperature * antibiotic), and computes the density-dependence parameter alpha from r and K using the Delta Method.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2021View details →

Population dynamics shifts by Climate Change: High resolution future mid-century trends for South America.

Köppen - Geiger scripts and resulting datasets for the publication entitled "Population dynamics shifts by Climate Change: High resolution future mid-century trends for South America." This scripts can be adapted to any geographic scale and region. Works with climate change scenarios. Original publication: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104155">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104155</a> Dataset description Scripts.rar: R Scripts used in this publication, as well they are reproducible Readme_Köppen.txt: README file that explain the requisites and data formatting to run the scripts Output datasets.zip: Output GIS datasets of this publication. Coordinate system GCS WGS 1984

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Stand structure and tree population dynamic attribute dataset of long abandoned strict forest reserves

We provide an integrated dataset of two consecutive forest inventories, both containing plot-level, and individual tree-level data. The first provides the descriptions and measuring units (or categories) of plot-level variables (Table 1). The plot level table contains 233 records (rows), one for each selected permanent plot of six strict forest reserves located in Hungary. This dataset is georeferenced and contains information on inventories and basic stand structure attributes (Table_1_Plots ESRI shape format).  The individual tree-level datasets were acquired by the sampling procedure, detailed in section 2.2. Species, dendrometric attributes, relative crown position, health, and decay status were documented for each tree belonging to the samples. Table 2 provides the descriptions and measuring units (or categories) of tree-level datasets in detail. Furthermore, it provides a tree history classification based on the interpretation of tree status changes. According to a simple scheme of the life and dead history of a tree, it could be classified into four main phases: establishment/regeneration phase; developmental phase; death and gradual decay of the tree trunk; terminated in decomposed/disintegrated state. The main events along these phases are ingrowth regeneration; death of the tree (mortality); disaggregation and decomposition of deadwood. We classify each sampled tree individuals into tree history categories (events and phases, Table 3) that can provide population dynamic aspects at stand level by appropriate tree aggregation functions. Relational link can be set between the plot-level and tree-level datasets based on the unique identification code of the site and sampling plots.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Supplementary material for "Productivity drives the dynamics of a red kite source population that depends on immigration"

Data files, code and custom functions for all analyses and figures presented in the paper. The seven data files are provided in csv format (CMRJuvRing.csv, CMRJuvDraht.csv, CMRAdDraht.csv, CMRAdSat.csv, RingRecoveries.csv, Bruten.csv, Condition.csv). The code file (RedKiteCode.txt) and the function file (Custom_functions.txt) are space delineated text files. The code file is written for R, but some models are run in JAGS from R. The code file also contains descriptions of the data files and code for data management.

opencc-by-4.0May 2023View details →

Dataset for "A computational fluid dynamics—Population balance equation approach for evaporating cough droplets transport"

Dataset for figures and tables of the article "A computational fluid dynamics—Population balance equation approach for evaporating cough droplets transport" submitted to "International Journal of Multiphase Flow".

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Landscape-scale Variation in Scleractinian Corals

This study provides a landscape-scale context to a decadal-scale analysis of community structure on shallow reefs along 4 km of the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands. By focusing on 12-14 sites along ~100 km of the shores of St. John and St. Thomas, surveys conducted in 2011 were used to contrast: (1) a local-scale with a landscape-scale analysis on two islands, (2) reefs around St. John and St. Thomas, and (3) reefs on north and south shores. Reefs were censused using photoquadrats that were analyzed for percentage cover first by functional groups (coral, macraolagae and CTB), and then by coral genus. In general, among-site variation for the coarse-resolution analysis eclipsed shore and island effects, but the fine-resolution analysis revealed strong site-specific differences for multiple coral genera that could be the product of priority effects in community succession. Over the next decade these differences probably will create unique community trajectories at each site.

openOpenAug 2021View details →

Meiobenthos abundance. Long-term variability and dynamics of estuarine meiobenthic populations for North Inlet Estuary, South Carolina, from 1972 to 1992, North Inlet LTER (Reformatted to the ecocomDP Design Pattern)

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Populations Dynamics: Population Projections

In this study, size-based matrix models for the reef-building coral Orbicella annularis at 14-m depth on the Tektite reef in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, were used to: (1) explore the demography of changing coral cover over 25 yr, (2) test for spatial homogeneity in demographic properties through a contrast with a previous study (at Yawzi Point, Edmunds and Elahi 2007), and (3) evaluate the potential for future population stability. During three, five year intervals from 1988 to 2002, St. John was affected by hurricanes and bleaching, yet coral cover at Tektite increased from 33% to 49%; from 2002 to 2007, it declined to 27%; and from 2010 to 2013, it stabilized at ∼ 28%. Over a quarter-century, colonies > 50 cm2 became rare, the abundance of colonies ≤ 50 cm2 increased from 58% (1988) to 92% (2013), and population density doubled to 67 colonies m-2 by 2013. Population growth (λ) was greater at Tektite (1.152 ≥ λ ≥ 1.018) than Yawzi Point (0.679 ≥ λ ≥ 0.586), and while population size at Tektite declined due to bleaching and disease in 2005 (λ = 0.753 over 2003–2008), it recovered between 2008 and 2013 (λ = 0.966); the population at Yawzi Point declined from 1988 to 2003 without signs of recovery. Projections suggest a continuation of recent conditions could allow O. annularis at Tektite to retain ∼ 9% cover after 100 yr, but with a return to the rates of growth and survival of 1993–1998, it could attain coverage similar to that of 1988 (33%) in ∼ 15 yr.

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Octocorals

These data are evidence of the the long-term dynamics of shallow coral reefs along the south coast of St. John from as early as 1987. These data describe coral reef community structure by density based on the analysis of color photographs. All of these data originate from color images of photoquadrats recorded annually (usually in the summer) from as early as 1987. The data falls into three groups. The two groups that are contained in this data package are (1) Tektite & Yawzi and (2) Random sites. Tektite – this is at 14 m depth on the eastern side of Great Lameshur Bay and is the original site of the Tektite man-in-the sea project in 1969; this project marked the birth of the Virgin Islands Ecological Research Station (later the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station) that hosts the field component of the project. The reef in this location consists of a single buttress that has remained dominated by Montastraea anularis since the start of the research (1987). These surveys consist of 30 photoquadrats (1 x 1 m) distributed along three, 10 m transects. Yawzi – this is at 9 m depth and is on the western side of Great Lameshur Bay and has been recorded photographically since 1987. This reef also started the study period dominated by Montastraea annularis, but has degraded much more rapidly that the Tektite site. These surveys consist of 30 photoquadrats (1 x 1 m) distributed along three, 10 m transects. Random sites – were added in 1992 to address the concern that the original sites (Yawzi and Tektite) were selected on “good” areas of reef and, therefore, could only decline in condition. The Random sites were selected using random coordinates in 1992, and consist of 6 sites (at 7-9 m depth) scattered between Cabritte Point and White Point. All lie a little shoreward of Yawzi and Tektite, and have always been characterized by low coral cover (< 10% cover). The surveys consist of 18-40 photoquadrats (0.5 x 0.5 m; with sample size determined by the exposures on a 3