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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: Recruitment Tiles

In this study, coral recruitment was measured on a kilometer-wide scale on shallow (5–6 m depth) fringing reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands, with the objective of determining the extent to which variation in recruitment was affected by biophysical coupling involving temperature and flow. Coral recruitment was measured using settlement tiles deployed at 10 sites along 10 km of shore. The tiles were first deployed in August 2006, and thereafter replaced every ≈6 months to sample from either August to January, or January to August over 2 years. Seawater temperature was recorded at the 10 sites using logging thermistors, and flow was quantified using drogues. Overall, corals recruited at a rate equivalent to 76 corals m− 2 6 months− 1, and were represented mostly by poritids (43% of recruits), agaricids (29%), faviids (17%) and siderastreids (7%). Although the density of recruits differed among sites in a pattern that varied among periods and years, there was a consistent trend for mean density to decline from ≈ 4 corals tile− 1 at eastern sites, to ≤ 1 coral tile− 1 at western sites. One aspect of seawater temperature – the daily range – differed among sites and was greater at western compared to eastern sites, and while it was related inversely to recruitment over one of the sampling periods, it was equivocal as a physical process affecting recruitment. Instead, our results are consistent with biophysical coupling involving patch depletion and downstream filtering, whereby patches of coral larvae are delivered to the south shore of St. John and depleted of larvae through settlement as the water progresses westward.

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Juvenile Coral

Coral larvae are selective with regards to the surfaces upon which they settle, but little is known about the outcome of these choices. In this study, we explored the implications for juvenile scleractinians (less than 40-mm diameter) of growing on igneous versus carbonate rock on the shallow reefs (5-m depth) of St. John, US Virgin Islands. Surveys revealed that juvenile corals occurred at densities of 16 colonies m− 2 and were distributed on igneous and carbonate rocks in proportion to the abundance of these surfaces, suggesting that larvae do not discriminate between rock types at settlement. Repeated surveys demonstrated that all juvenile corals (i.e., pooled among taxa) grew 41% slower on igneous versus carbonate rock between January and August, but not between August and January when the growth was statistically indistinguishable between rock types. Although the growth of the most common juvenile coral, Porites astreoides, was similar on both substrata, the photophysiology of this species was affected by the type of rock. The maximum relative electron transfer rate (rETR, a proxy for photosynthesis) of P. astreoides was down-regulated 30% on igneous compared to carbonate rock. Phylogenetic analyses of the Symbiodinium community sequence profiles within P. astreoides revealed significant differences between substrata, with a greater diversity of co-occurring ITS-2 sequences in corals growing on carbonate compared to igneous rock. While substratum-dependent patterns in the characteristics of juvenile corals suggested there is selective value to the settlement choices made by larvae, these trends did not translate into differences in survival, at least over the time scale investigated. It remains uncertain what features of the rocks affected coral performance, but differences in the temperature of the rock may be an important feature during the warmest period of the year.

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Physical Measurements

These data have been utilized for several publications analyzing different aspects of seawater temperature, including Edmunds: Royal Society 2006, Green et al: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 2010, Green and Edmunds: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 2011, and Edmunds: Marine Ecology Project Series 2013. Temperatures were averaged by day and month and used to calculate annual mean and range using monthly mean temperatures. Daily temperatures were used to categorize days as hot (> 29.3°C) or cold (≤ 26.0°C), with hot days exceeding the coral bleaching threshold for St. John (http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite), and ‘cold days’ less than or equal to the lower 12th percentile of daily seawater temperatures in Great Lameshur Bay between 1989-2005 (Edmunds 2006).This dataset cotains data annually updated data ongoing since July 1999.

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.

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

openCC (other)Nov 2025View details →

MCR LTER: Coral Reef: Island-Wide Lagoon Benthic Water Temperature, ongoing since 2021

Beginning in August 2021, a continuous time series of benthic water temperature is measured with bottom-mounted thermistors (SBE 56s) at 49 sites around the lagoons of Moorea. The thermistor array consists of a backbone of 36 thermistors placed on the backreef approximately 200 m shoreward of the reef crest and spaced approximately 1 km apart. In addition, there are three cross-shore transects (one on each of the three sides of the island). Each cross-shore transect consists of five bottom-mounted thermistors spaced at 100 m intervals, starting at the reef crest and ending 400 m inshore. All thermistors are mounted on plates at ~ 1.5 m depth. Temperature measurements are taken every 2 minutes.

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-by-4.0Nov 2020View details →

Global Airborne Observatory: Hawaiian Islands Reef Rugosity 2019+2020

Summary Coral reef rugosity maps were developed by the Global Airborne Observatory (GAO) team at the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science at Arizona State University. The maps show high-resolution seafloor rugosity derived from airborne imaging spectroscopy data collected by the GAO in January 2019 and January 2020. Data Use Requirements Use of these data must acknowledge the source its funders as: “The bathymetry and rugosity data maps were created by the Global Airborne Observatory, Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, Arizona State University.  The project received financial support from the Lenfest Ocean Program, The Battery Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Avatar Alliance Foundation, State of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources, State of Hawaiʻi Department of Planning, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” In addition, provide citations to the following two publications on any materials or presentations utilizing the data or products and results derived from the data: Asner, G.P., N.R. Vaughn, C. Balzotti, P.G. Brodrick, and J. Heckler. 2020. High-resolution reef bathymetry and coral habitat complexity from airborne imaging spectroscopy. Remote Sensing 12:310 (doi:10.3390/rs12020310) Asner, G.P., N.R. Vaughn, S.A. Foo, J. Heckler, and R.E. Martin. 2021. Drivers of reef habitat complexity throughout the Main Hawaiian Islands. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:631842. (doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.631842) Map Properties There are two types of map products available as part of this collection: fine rugosity, and coarse rugosity. Except for Hawaii Island, there are three separate map files for each of the Main Hawaiian Islands (Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau).  Hawaii Island was large enough that it needed to be split into quarters for manageability, and each of the three maps are available for all quarters (12 maps total). Coordinates for all maps refer to the UTM Coordinate System, Zone 4 North using datum WGS-84, with the exception of those for Hawaii Island which refer to Zone 5 North. The rugosity maps in meters at a 2-meter spatial resolution up to approximately 22 meters in depth, where data quality allowed. To minimize the effect of water properties, these maps are built using a blend of data from both the 2019 and 2020 collection periods.  Fine-scale rugosity seeks high frequency changes on the seafloor arising from coral colonies, rocks, and other bottom features that generate local habitat variability, and coarse-scale rugosity is more responsive to variations in larger terrain features resulting from geologic, reef-scale accretion, and subsidence processes. Fine-scale rugosity maps are produced at 2-meter horizontal resolution, but each pixel represents the conditions of a 6-meter square window centered at the given pixel. Similarly, coarse-scale rugosity maps are produced at 6-meter resolution, but each pixel represents the conditions of a 54-meter square window centered at the given pixel. Rugosity values in the maps are unitless and range from 0.0 (low rugosity) to 100.0 (high rugosity). Methods We computed island-wide maps of rugosity at two resolution using a standard planar image rugosity metric on the GAO blended bathymetry maps (Asner, Gregory. P., Vaughn, Nicholas, & Heckler, Joseph. (2020). Global Airborne Observatory: Hawaiian Islands Live Coral Cover in 2019. Zenodo. <a href="http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4292660">http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4292660</a>). Prior to running the algorithm, missing data of less than two pixels in width were filled using an inverse-distance weighted average of the three nearest neighboring pixels. Fine-scale rugosity was computed using a 3 x 3 pixel (6 x 6 meters) moving window on the original 2-meter resolution bathymetric maps. Coarse-scale rugosity was computed by first down-sampling the 2-meter depth maps to 6-meter resolution using a mean filter. The rugosity metric was then computed using a 9 x 9 pixel (54.0 x 54.0 m) moving window on the 6-meter depth maps. The distribution of raw rugosity algorithm output values is extremely skewed and difficult to interpret. Thus, the rugosity maps contain rugosity values that are transformed in such a way that they have an approximate uniform [0,1] distribution. This both reduces the influence of noisy depth pixels and gives a more meaningful scale upon which to interpret the maps.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2021View details →

Brilliantia kiribatiensis, a new genus and species of Cladophorales (Chlorophyta) from the remote coral reefs of the Southern Line Islands, Pacific Ocean

Data associated with the study "Brilliantia kiribatiensis, a new genus and species of Cladophorales (Chlorophyta) from the remote coral reefs of the Southern Line Islands, Pacific Ocean". ITS.fasta, ITS_bmge.fasta, LSU.fasta, LSU_bmge.fasta, SSU.fasta, SSU_bmge.fasta: SSU rDNA, LSU rDNA and rDNA ITS sequences used in phylogenetic analyses. Sequences of Brilliantia kiribatiensis were added to updated phylogenetic datasets used previously (Leliaert et al. 2007a, Leliaert et al. 2009b), aligned in MAFFT v7.215 (Katoh and Standley 2013), and stripped of hypervariable sites in BMGE v1.1 (Criscuolo and Gribaldo 2010) by using the -h 0.4 -g 0.35 parameters. Alignments were visually checked and concatenated in Seaview v4.4.2. concatenated_SSU_ITS_LSU.fasta: concatenated alignment with following partitions: SSU: 1-1797, ITS1+5.8S+ITS2: 1798-3335, LSU: 3336-3926. Table_S1_sequence_sources.xls: GenBank accessions, sample isolate codes and sites of collection for sequences included in the concatenated phylogenetic data set. Table S2. Percent cover of different algal groups in 1 m2 photoquadrats. Algal groups are identified to genus level for fleshy macroalgae or functional group for turf algae, branched red algae, crustose coralline algae, and cyanobacteria. Table SX. Morphological measurements of Brilliantia kiribatiensis.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Data to support Whitney JL, Coleman RR, Deakos MH "Genomic evidence indicates small island-resident populations and sex-biased behaviors of Hawaiian Reef Manta Rays"

Datasets supporting the manuscript: Whitney JL, Coleman RR, Deakos MH "Genomic evidence indicates small island-resident populations and sex-biased behaviors of Hawaiian Reef Manta Rays". BMC Ecology and Evolution 23, 31 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02130-0 Nuclear data: "Mobula-alfredi_nuclear_reference_RAD_contigs.fasta" is a fasta of 359,751 contigs that serve as the reference for nuclear alignment of genotypes to RAD loci. Contigs begin and end with GATC cut site. Mobula-alfredi_nuclear_all_2048snps_38genotypes.vcf is a VCF file with all 2048 nuclear SNPs in final filtered SNP dataset. 38 genotypes are included from Maui Nui and Hawaii Island. This 2048 SNPs includes both 2038 neutral and 10 outlier SNPs.  Mobula-alfredi_nuclear_neutral_2038snps_38genotypes.vcf is a VCF file with 2038 neutral nuclear SNPs genotyped in 38 individuals from Maui Nui and Hawaii Island.  Mobula-alfredi_nuclear_outliers_10snps_38genotypes.vcf is a VCF file with 10 outlier SNPs genotyped in 38 individuals from Maui Nui and Hawaii Island.  Structure (.str) files are also provided in addition to VCFs. In all files Population prefixes M=Maui Nui and K=Hawaii Island.  Mitochondrial data: Mobula-alfredi_mitogenome_34haplotypes_9sites_min4x.vcf is a VCF file with 9 variant sites across the mitogenome haplotyped in 34 individuals from Maui Nui and Hawaii Island.  Mobula-alfredi_mitogenome_34haplotypes_allsites_min4x.fasta is a FASTA file with whole mitogenomes aligned to OP562409 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/OP562409]. Sites with less than 4x coverage were masked with Ns.  Mobula-alfredi_mitogenome_reference_OP562409.fasta is a FASTA file containing the Mobula alfredi reference mitogenome OP562409 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/OP562409].

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2023View details →

DATASET From the Reef to the Ocean: Revealing the Acoustic Range of the Biophony of a Coral Reef (Moorea Island, French Polynesia)

Dataset corresponding to the article "From the Reef to the Ocean: Revealing the Acoustic Range of the Biophony of a Coral Reef (Moorea Island, French Polynesia)". 90 sites were recorded from the reef crest to 10 km in the open ocean off Moorea Island (French Polynesia) in 2016. Recordings were realized with drifting antennas made of a floater and an autonomous recorder EA-SDA14 (RTSys®, Caudan, France) connected to a wideband low-noise hydrophone HTI-92 (High Tech Inc., Long Beach, MS, USA) with a sensitivity of −155 ± 3 dB re 1 V µPa−1 and a flat frequency response from 2 Hz to 50 kHz.

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.

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Decadal-scale changes in community structure from 1987 to 2011

These time series data sample percent cover of Scleractinian corals by genus measured from photo quadrats. Percent cover is given for each quadrat, each site, each year from 1987 to 2011. Counts of juvenile corals conducted in situ and small colonies less than 4 cm diameter are pooled from all sites. Supplementary data include in situ seawater temperature daily mean from 1989 to 2011. These data were used to create the figures in Edmunds, P.J., 2013, Decadal-scale changes in the community structure of coral reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands, Marine ecology Progress Series. doi:10.3354/meps10424

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

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Reference: Taxonomy

In early years photos were analyzed with less refined taxonomic classsification. This reference table may be used to aggregate taxa to align with coarse analysis. Use this table to define sub-categories and super-categories such as the M. annularis complex. This is a reference dataset containing the taxonomic classifications, groupings of taxonomic classifications, and functional groups. It has been updated in accordance with Budd, et al., 2012.

openCC (other)Aug 2021View details →

Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Scleractinian corals (Reformatted to a Darwin Core Archive)

This data package is formatted as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A, event core). For more information on Darwin Core see https://www.tdwg.org/standards/dwc/. This Level 2 data package was derived from the Level 1 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/edi/357/2, which 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 sit