Table of Contents

• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Reef composition was surveyed on all 192 reefs between years 2003-2005. The Focal Point Contact (Point Contact) method was used to determine the major substrate types that occupy each reef. Beginning in 2012, reefs 129-144 were used for a manipulative experiment; data beginning in 2012 for these reefs can be found in the project “Spatial patterns of coral-vermetid interactions: short-term effects and long-term consequences.” These data are meant to verify visual cover estimates at each reef (found in the dataset “Percent Visual Cover”).

Location: Moorea, French Polynesia (17.48 degrees S, 149.82 degrees W)

Sampling and Analytical Methodology:
Three transects were laid out over the right, middle and left side of each reef. The diver recorded the substrate every 10 cm, yielding at least 50 fixed-point contacts for every reef. Corals and algae that are commonly observed are divided by genera. Porites spp are further distinguished as ridged, smooth or columnar.

Materials: transect tape and slates

Data Processing:
To obtain “TOTPOINTS”: Sum all species points from the reef.

NA- Not applicable (never recorded) to this data set
NR- Not recorded at certain times throughout the data set

BCO-DMO Processing Notes
- Generated from original file "LTR_PercentCoverPointContact.csv" contributed by Rebecca Atkins
- Parameter names edited to conform to BCO-DMO naming convention found at Choosing Parameter Name
- Any blank rows removed

Description from NSF award abstract:
Ecologists have long been interested in the factors that drive spatial and temporal variability in population density and structure. In marine reef systems, attention has focused on the role of settlement-the transition of pelagic larvae to a benthic stage-and on density-dependent processes affecting recently settled juveniles. Recent data suggest that co-variance in settlement and subsequent density-dependent survival can obscure the patterns of density dependence at larger scales, a phenomenon called cryptic density dependence. This research will explore the mechanisms that underlie the spatial covariance of settlement and site quality - a process that has received little attention in the standard paradigm. These mechanistic studies of cryptic density dependence will facilitate the development of new frameworks for fish population dynamics that incorporate larval ecology, habitat quality, density dependence, life history, and the patterns and implications of spatial covariance among these factors. More generally, the work provides a specific empirical context, and a general theoretical treatment, of cryptic heterogeneity (hidden individual variation in demographic rates).

Note: Drs. Craig W. Osenberg and Ben Bolker were at the University of Florida at the time the NSF award was granted. Dr. Osenberg moved to the University of Georgia during the summer of 2014 (current contact information). Dr. Bolker moved to McMaster University in 2010 (current contact information).