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Carbonate budget methods comparison at Cheeca Rocks (Florida, USA) (NCEI Accession 0305035)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: October 13, 2025 | Last Modified: 2025-06-18T00:00:00.000+00:00
Carbonate budget assessments quantify changes to reef habitat structure by measuring the cover of habitat altering taxa (calcifies and eroders) and assimilating literature-reported carbonate production/erosion rates, ultimately yielding estimates of net carbonate production. This dataset was used to test the efficacy of our novel site-level Photogrammetry-Based Carbonate Budgets (PBCB) technique by performing a methods comparison at Cheeca Rocks (Florida, USA). The PBCB-derived carbonate budget results were compared to two established transect-based methods: in-water ReefBudget surveys and a modified large-area imagery technique. The ‘carbonateBudget’ csv file includes percent cover of prominent benthic taxa, carbonate production/erosion of habitat altering taxa (coral, CCA, microborers, macroborers, parrotfish, and urchins), the three primary components of a carbonate budget (net carbonate production, gross carbonate production, gross carbonate erosion), and site/transect rugosity. The ‘coralGenus_Data’ csv file includes percent cover and carbonate production by each coral genus observed at the study site. The ‘coralData_PBCB’ csv file includes all coral data extracted from segmented coral colonies (i.e. boundary of distinct areas of coral tissue) using the PBCB workflow. These data reveal that all three methods produce similar estimates of net carbonate production, validating the efficacy of the PBCB method to be used for future carbonate budget assessments. The Photogrammetry-Based Carbonate Budgets (PBCB) methodology is a site-level carbonate budget approach that combines large-area imagery (LAI) datasets with in-field grazer surveys to calculate reef habitat growth and erosion. The LAI data sources employed in this technique include: (1) two-dimensional orthoprojections, (2) three-dimensional digital elevation models, (3) segmented polygons of coral colonies annotated at the species/genus level, and (4) benthic points (25 points m-2) overlaid on the orthoprojections annotated at the functional group level. Benthic carbonate production is quantified as the sum of coral carbonate production (derived from segmented polygons) and carbonate production by non-coral calcifiers (derived from benthic points). Benthic carbonate erosion by microborers and macroboring sponges is calculated using percent cover (derived from benthic points) and literature-reported bioerosion rates. Surface values from digital elevation models are used to translate the planar area of each benthic component into surface area, providing a more accurate representation of three-dimensional structure within the calculated carbonate production and erosion rates. Since LAI techniques are unable to robustly capture grazer populations, field-survey data of parrotfish and urchins (recorded to the species and size-class level) are used to quantify grazer erosion. Site-level carbonate budgets are then estimated by summing benthic carbonate production, benthic carbonate erosion, and grazer erosion.

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0305035 BENTHIC COMMUNITIES CORAL CORAL - COLONY SIZE CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER SPECIES IDENTIFICATION SUBSTRATE DESCRIPTION camera laboratory analysis visual observation biological in situ laboratory analyses model output survey survey - biological survey - coral reef visual observation NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) CORAL REEF STUDIES Coastal Waters of Florida Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary North Atlantic Ocean oceanography DOC/NOAA/OAR/AOML > Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, OAR, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Numeric Data Sets > Biology EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Benthic Habitat EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Algal Cover EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Calcareous Macroalgae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Crustose Coralline Algae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Reef Monitoring and Assessment EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Vegetation > Algae > Turf Algae EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral biodiversity EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Net Ecosystem Calcification EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect monitoring EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Photographic Analysis EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Reef Fish Census EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Benthic biology EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Coral Cover EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Hard Coral Cover EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Rugosity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrate Communities EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > REEF > CORAL REEF EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS CAMERA > CAMERA VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS Belt Transect Surveys Rcode TagLab Software Viscore Software COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida > Monroe County > Cheeca Rocks (24N080W0009) OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida Reef Tract > Upper Florida Keys > Cheeca Rocks (24N080W0009) OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO Florida Keys BW0LR9

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