Carbonate Budgets, Structure-from-Motion Products, and Topographic Complexity Measurements From Restored and Non-Restored Areas of Coral Reefs in the Lower Florida Keys

During the summers of 2022 and 2023, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers conducted underwater surveys aimed at quantifying the impact that past coral restoration by Mote Marine Laboratory had on the reef-accretion process. The surveys were conducted along paired transects representing restored and non-restored areas of eight offshore reefs and three patch-reef sites in the Lower Florida Keys. At each location on each reef, USGS researchers conducted photographic surveys (these images are published in an accompanying release by Johnson and others, 2025) to generate structure-from-motion (SfM) products (point clouds, orthomosaics, and digital surface models [DSMs]), which were used to quantify percent cover of corals and other benthos and topographic complexity. USGS researchers also conducted census surveys of bioeroding parrotfishes, urchins, and sponges at each site.