Coral reef benthic and fish monitoring data from Turneffe Atoll, Belize, 2010-2023

Description

Notes

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 the years of 2010-2018, and biennially between 2021-2023. For our annual surveys from 2010-2018, we followed the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System Synoptic Monitoring Program (MBRS SMP) protocol¹. For 2021 and 2023, our data collection followed the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocol^2-6. 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 Celcius. We then manually investigated each flagged cell to consider individually whether we should fix or exclude the measurement.

Citations:

1. 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

2. Lang, J., Marks, K., Kramer, P., Kramer, P., & Ginsburg, R. (2010). Agrra protocols version 5.4. ReVision A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. McField, M., & Craig, N. (2018, February 28). Healthy Reefs letter to Belize Fisheries Department

8. Wickham, H. (2014). Tidy Data. Journal of Statistical Software, 59(10). https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v059.i10

9. 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

10. 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