Benthic community response to different disturbance type events across six islands between two timepoints in the Central Pacific

A coral reef's response to disturbance can be driven by various factors including community composition. This dataset highlights benthic cover and its changes between two timepoints at six islands across the central Pacific. The survey islands include Ant Atoll, Pakin Atoll, and Pohnpei located within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) as well as Upon and Savai'i in Samoa and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Survey years differed between sites but all sites had an estimated two-year time-difference between resampling. To extract benthic cover, photos were annotated using randomized points and labeled to their highest taxonomic resolution, down to genus-level for hard corals. Both abiotic and biotic substrate were identified and major functional groups included: hard corals, soft corals, invertebrates, turf algae, Halimeda spp., crustose coralline algae, and other (sand/debris/etc.). Disturbance type and community composition at the initial survey period drove changes in percent cover for major functional groups. Data was collected by annotating photos from transect surveys on a coral reef. This effort was completed by the 2020 SIO 'Pop-up' SURF REU that was formed in rapid response due to COVID-19 research limitations.