Data for: Effects of encrusting sponge overgrowth of corals on reef fish assemblages

Background: In this study, we use both an observational and experimental approach to test whether overgrowth of corals by encrusting sponges is impacting on fish assemblages, either by reducing coral cover or structural complexity. 

Methods: In the field, we stablished 36 quadrats of 3*3 meters divided into low (20%) with 12 quadrats per sponge cover category. we stablished 12 quadrats of 3*3 meters where sponges were removed, to assess the response of fishes to sponge removal we conducted fish surveys were conducted via Underwater Visual Censuses (UVC) that were performed in each quadrat for 30 minutes. We repeated the fish census  process 4 times 1 before the sponge removal was conducted and three times after , at intervals of 1  week, 4  weeks and 12 weeks after removal. The information was processed  conducting univariate and multivariate analysis.

This data record contains:

4 x .csv files containing survey data
4 x R. scripts describing the analyses step by step.

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Software/equipment used to create/collect the data: Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (16.0.14326.20936) 64-bit
Software/equipment used to manipulate/analyse the data: R version 4.1.3 (2022-03-10)
Platform: x86_64-w64-mingw32/x64 (64-bit)
Running under: Windows 10 x64 (build 19043)