IMIS

This fish and benthic composition database is the result of a mutlifaceted effort described below. The intent of this work is five fold: 1) To spatially characterize and monitor the distribution, abundance, and size of both reef fishes and macro-invertebrates (conch, lobster, Diadema); 2) To relate this information to in-situ data collected on associated benthic composition parameters; 3) To use this information to establish the knowledge base necessary for enacting management decisions in a spatial setting; 4) To establish the efficacy of those management decisions; and 5) To work with the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program to develop data collection standards and easily implemented methodologies for transference to other agencies and to work toward standardizing data collection throughout the US states and territories. Toward this end, the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessments Biogeography Team (BT) has been conducting research in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands since 2000 and 2001, respectively. The basis for this work is the nearshore benthic habitats maps (less than 100 ft depth) created by NOAAs Biogeography Program in 2001 and NOS bathymetry models. Using ArcView GIS software, the digitized habitat maps are stratified to select sampling stations. Sites are randomly selected within these strata to ensure coverage of the entire study region and not just a particular reef or seagrass area. At each site, fish, macro-invertebrates, and benthic composition information is then quantified following standardized protocols. By relating the data collected in the field back to the habitat maps and bathymetric models, BT is able to model and map species level and community level information. These protocols are standardized throughout the US Caribbean to enable quantification and comparison of reef fish abundance and distribution trends between locations. Armed with the knowledge of where hot spots of species richness and diversity are likely to occur in the seascape, the BT is in a unique position to answer questions about the efficacy of marine zoning strategies (e.g. placement of no fishing, anchoring, or snorkeling locations), and what locations are most suitable for establishing MPAs. Knowledge of the current status of fish/macro-invertebrate communities coupled with longer term monitoring will enable evaluation of management efficacy, thus it is essential to future management actions. Additional information: there are 5 fields from the original data represented in the notes column. From left to right, they are batch_code, survey_index, habitat_structure, permanent_random and trophic. These are defined as follows: i. batch_code - an alphanumeric code that identifies the region, month and year of each mission. ii. survey_index - a numerical index that uniquely identifies each specific station done within a mission. iii. habitat_structure- the structure of a specific station. Can be hard, soft, or mangrove. iv. permanent_random - represents whether the sample area is a predetermined, consistently resampled site or randomly selected for the given mission. v. trophic_level - trophic group of fish derived from www.fishbase.org. To identify individual records for these data, the OBIS field CATALOGNUMBER was formulated by concatenating batch_code, survey_index, and a unique, positive integer value. This dataset contains the fish assessment and monitoring data from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.