Reef-census Data from Buck Island Reef National Monument

In July of 2016, Florida Institute of Technology researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), conducted reef-census surveys at 54 sites around Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The sites are divided across two reef sectors (North and South) and three reef habitats (fore reef, reef crest, and back reef) (Figure 1). These data were used to estimate coral-reef carbonate budgets (after Perry and others, 2012). The surveys provide data on the percent coverage of corals and other benthic taxa and abundances of bioeroding parrotfishes and urchins. This research is a part of the USGS Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies Project (CREST).