CERP Picayune Strand - Southwest Protection Features - Baseline and Post Restoration Periphyton Monitoring for the Picayune Strand Restoration Project 2025

We provide quarterly baseline data on the cover and relative abundance of diatoms in periphyton from five locations in Collier-Seminole State Park beginning in October 2023. These data will be used to monitor and adaptively manage the Southwest Protection Feature Levee component and additional operations of the larger Picayune Strand Restoration Project, near Naples, Florida. Additional data on the total biomass and algal content (chlorophyll-a) are also provided. Specifically, we: 1) Measured periphyton cover and biovolume, and collected periphyton subsamples from three replicate locations at four pre-determined sites when surface water was present, and 2) Provide dry, ash-free dry, and chlorophyll-a mass, and diatom species composition of periphyton communities. Dry conditions leading up to some sampling events reduced the overall robustness of the data.