Table of Contents

• Coverage
• 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 used in the vermetid removal study (both vermetid removal and non-removal reefs were assessed). These data were collected beginning in 2012 at each reef. These data are meant to provide contextual information for how vermetids affect reef communities. 

Long Term Vermetid Removal (LTVR) Reef sites in this project are manipulated reefs characterized in the Long Term Reef Physical Characteristics dataset.

Reefs labeled "TOW" in this dataset, numbered 129-144, are a subset of a larger number of Long Term Reefs (LTR) that were monitored as part of the project "Cryptic density dependence: the effects of spatial, ontogenetic, and individual variation in reef fish" beginning in 2003. This long term study continues to monitor those reefs in addition to reefs 193-198 starting in 2012. Data for these reefs between the years 2003 and 2009 can be found on the project site http://www.bco-dmo.org/project/540423.

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

Other associated LTVR datasets:
LTVR - Fate of Reefs - Contains latitude and longitude of reefs used in this dataset 
LTVR - Physical Characteristics - Contains characteristics of reefs used in this dataset.
LTVR - Fish Survey
LTVR - Percent Cover Point Contact
LTVR - Pomacentrids
LTVR - Thalasssoma
LTVR - Vermetid Counts
LTVR - Vermetid Removal
LTVR - Vermetid Sizes in Quadrat

Sampling and Analytical Methodology:
One person swims around the reef and visually estimates the relative cover of different substrates. Divers ignored taxa that covered less 2% of the benthos. The investigators also completed point contact surveys to verify their estimates, see “LTVR_PercentCoverPointContact” sheet for more details.

Materials: diver and slates

Data Processing:
To obtain “TOTALPOINTS”: Sum across all species columns, should sum to close to 100.

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 "LTVR_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

Data version 2: 2017-12-20 replaces data version 1: 2016-05-23 and extends the dataset time range to 2016.

Description from NSF abstract:
Ecological surprises are most likely to be manifest in diverse communities where many interactions remain uninvestigated. Coral reefs harbor much of the world's biodiversity, and recent studies by the investigators suggest that one overlooked, but potentially important, biological interaction involves vermetid gastropods. Vermetid gastropods are nonmobile, tube-building snails that feed via an extensive mucus net. Vermetids reduce coral growth by up to 80%, and coral survival by as much as 60%. Because effects vary among coral taxa, vermetids may substantially alter the structure of coral communities as well as the community of fishes and invertebrates that inhabit the coral reef.

The investigators will conduct a suite of experimental and observational studies that: 1) quantify the effects of four species of vermetids across coral species to assess if species effects and responses are concordant or idiosyncratic; 2) use meta-analysis to compare effects of vermetids relative to other coral stressors and determine the factors that influence variation in coral responses; 3) determine the role of coral commensals that inhabit the branching coral, Pocillopora, and evaluate how the development of the commensal assemblage modifies the deleterious effects of vermetids; 4) determine how vermetid mucus nets affect the local environment of corals and evaluate several hypotheses about proposed mechanisms; and 5) assess the long-term implications of vermetids on coral communities and the fishes and invertebrates that depend on the coral.

Note: The Principal Investigator, Dr. Craig W. Osenberg, was 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).