Coral reef benthic and fish monitoring data from Turneffe Atoll, Belize, 2010-2025

Coral reefs are crucial centres of biodiversity, sustaining diverse marine species and providing ecosystem services to coastal communities. Monitoring coral reefs allows us to assess how the reefs are changing over time, discerning the potential impact of environmental changes, human activities, and climate events on their health and biodiversity. Here, we present a collection of data obtained through methodologies from the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef Systems Synoptic Monitoring Program (MBRS SMP) and Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocols, including data from benthic point-intercept and invertebrate surveys, coral recruit surveys, coral community characterizations, and reef fish surveys. The dataset encompasses observations spanning the years 2010 to 2025 within Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve, Belize. By publishing this dataset, we aim to provide a resource for research endeavors related to coral reef dynamics and broader ecological trends. Use of this monitoring data supports the evolution of Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve as a Marine Protected Area, contributing to informed decision-making and management strategies for the conservation of this vital ecosystem.

Methods
Our dataset consists of data collected for four surveys (benthic point-intercept-method (PIM), benthic invertebrates, coral community, and reef fish) carried out at the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve in Belize, annually between 2010-2018, and biennially between 2021-2025. For our annual surveys from 2010-2018, we followed the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System Synoptic Monitoring Program (MBRS SMP) protocol1. For 2021, 2023, and 2025, our data collection followed the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocol2-6. The change in protocol between 2018 and 2021 is due to the National adoption of the AGRRA protocol for coral reef monitoring in Belize7. The two protocols are very similar, as the MBRS SMP was based on AGRRA and Caribbean Coastal and Marine Productivity (CARICOMP) protocols1. 

Between 2010-2021, we archived our collected data in Excel sheets, stored locally at the UB-ERI. Under UB-ERI guidance, volunteers digitized the data, entering it into tabular data format from waterproof data collection sheets used in the field. In 2023, we transformed the data format according to tidy data principles8, and FAIR data principles9 using R Statistical Software10. We wrote custom validation rules in R, which allowed us to feed our data in and receive a report on any cell that violated a rule, such as a temperature measurement in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. We then manually investigated each flagged cell to consider individually whether we should fix or exclude the measurement.

Citations:

Almada-Villela, P. C., Sale, P. F., Gold-Bouchot, G., & Kjerfve, B. (2003). Manual of methods for the MBRS synoptic monitoring program: Selected methods for monitoring physical and biological parameters for use in the Mesoamerican region (Protocol 4; p. 155). Mesoamerican Barrier Reef Systems Project. https://rris.biopama.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/MBRS%20synoptic%20monitoring.pdf

Lang, J., Marks, K., Kramer, P., Kramer, P., & Ginsburg, R. (2010). Agrra protocols version 5.4. ReVision A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation.
Lang, J. C., Marks, K. W., Kramer, P. A., Kramer, P. R., & Ginsburg, R. N. (2016a). AGRRA Benthos Protocol. Summary Instructions. (Protocol Revision 2016-09-12; p. 3). Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment. https://www.agrra.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/AGRRA-Benthos-Protocol.pdf

Lang, J. C., Marks, K. W., Kramer, P. A., Kramer, P. R., & Ginsburg, R. N. (2016b). AGGRA Detailed Fish Protocol. Instructions for Use, June 2016. (Revision 2016-09-12; p. 2). Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment. https://www.agrra.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AGRRA-Fish-Protocol_June-2016.pdf

AGRRA. (2021a). AGGRA Benthos Protocol. Summary Instructions, April 2021 Updated. (Revision 2021-04-12; p. 4). Ocean Research & Education. https://agrra.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AGRRA-Benthos-Protocol-April_13_2021.pdf

AGRRA. (2021b). AGGRA Coral Protocol. Summary Instructions, April 2021. (Revision 2021-04-12; p. 5). Ocean Research & Education. https://agrra.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AGRRA-Coral-Protocol-April_13_2021.pdf

McField, M., & Craig, N. (2018, February 28). Healthy Reefs letter to Belize Fisheries Department
Wickham, H. (2014). Tidy Data. Journal of Statistical Software, 59(10). https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v059.i10

Wilkinson, M. D., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, Ij. J., Appleton, G., Axton, M., Baak, A., Blomberg, N., Boiten, J.-W., Da Silva Santos, L. B., Bourne, P. E., Bouwman, J., Brookes, A. J., Clark, T., Crosas, M., Dillo, I., Dumon, O., Edmunds, S., Evelo, C. T., Finkers, R., … Mons, B. (2016). The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, 3(1), 160018. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18

R Core Team. (2023). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical  Computing (version 4.3.1) [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org