Foraminifera Community Assemblages from the Southern Maldivian Archipelago: A Helpful Baseline for Future Environmental Assessments

These data were collected as part of National Geographic Society Pristine Seas Program. This dataset was generated from a targeted field survey and laboratory analysis of benthic sediments collected in March 2023 from 26 sites across three southern Maldives atolls: Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah, and Addu. At each site, divers collected 100 ml of surface sediment using SCUBA as part of an ecological assessment of benthic foraminiferal communities. The sediment samples were preserved immediately in 95% ethanol with Rose Bengal stain to distinguish living from dead foraminifera. In the laboratory, samples were washed, sieved into standard size fractions (63–125 μm and >125 μm), dried, and split using a microsplitter. Foraminiferal specimens were then dry-picked, counted, and identified to species level using classical taxonomic references, online databases, and regional literature. The resulting dataset includes species abundance data, ecological group proportions, and associated environmental variables used for community, diversity, and multivariate analyses.