Table of Contents

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

Coral, algae, and invertebrates were observed, and their percent cover on each of the patch reefs estimated. These data were collected from 2003-2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2014. These surveys were conducted at each of 192 reefs. Beginning in 2012, reefs 129-144 and added reefs 193-198 were manipulated for a project studying the effects of vermetid removals; information pertaining to this manipulation can be found in the project “Spatial patterns of coral-vermetid interactions: short-term effects and long-term consequences”. All data collected on reefs 129-144 and 193-198 beginning in 2012 can also be found under that project. Descriptions of each reef are located in the “Long Term Reef Physical Characteristics” dataset. Estimating benthic composition of each reef provides serial data over time and space. These data are meant to provide contextual information for vermetid and Thalassoma dynamics.

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

Sampling and Analytical Methodology:

One person swims around the reef and visually estimates the relative cover of different substrates. In early years there was some confusion about Stegastes turf and grazed turf (Surgeonfish fish grazed turf). By 2012, grazed turf is now considered bare space. Divers ignored taxa that covered less than 1 percent of the benthos in 2003 and 2004. Starting in 2005, they looked at cover of 2% and above. In 2004, additional lettered reefs were monitored for benthic cover. These lettered reefs were experimentally added to the site for another experiment. After 2004 they were not monitored again. For a limited number of reefs between 2003-2005, the investigators completed a limited number of point contacts to verify their estimates.

Materials: dver, slate

Data Processing:
Calculations: To get “TOTALPOINTS”, sum across the columns. Use that sum to estimate percent cover each substrate by dividing the number in the cell by the total points.

NA- Not applicable (never recorded) to this data set
NR- Not recorded at certain times throughout the data set
tr - “Trivial” amount

BCO-DMO Processing Notes
- Generated from original file "LTR_PercentVisualCover.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).