Benthic cover data from the Galeta Island reef flat, Panama

Six parallel transects, located 2 m apart were surveyed offshore from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute laboratory on Galeta Island, Panama.Transects consisted of a 150 m line (divided into 5 x 30 m lines) extending from datum to the surf zone and 1 x 30 m reverse line extending from datum to the mangroves.Line intercept survey methods were used to indentify the benthos along each transect.
This research was undertaken to characterize the benthos of the reef flat off Galeta Island, Panama.

在巴拿马加莱塔岛的史密森热带研究所（Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute）实验室近海区域，对6条间距为2米的平行样带（transect）进行了野外调查。每条样带包含两条样线：一条为从基准点延伸至激浪带的150米主样线，该主样线被划分为5段30米的子样线；另一条为从基准点延伸至红树林的30米反向样线。研究采用样线拦截法对每条样带沿线的底栖生物（benthos）进行物种鉴定。
本研究旨在表征巴拿马加莱塔岛近海礁坪的底栖生物群落特征。