Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Coastal Resource Management Long-term Marine Monitoring Program: Benthic, Coral, Fish, and Macro-Invertebrate surveys from 2019-03-05 to 2020-09-29 (NCEI Accession 0286093)

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ Long-term Marine Monitoring Program (LTMMP) has extensively gathered monitoring data across the region. LTMMP divers have collected data from shallow fore reef habitats, seagrass areas, and back reefs. Using a range of survey techniques—such as quadrats, stationary point count (SPC), and belt transects—along three to five 50-meter transects. Quadrats were utilized to assess percent coral and benthic cover, while also enabling the calculation of coral size distribution and diversity. SPCs provided estimates for fish biomass and diversity. In parallel, belt transects were employed to determine macroinvertebrate density and diversity.