Dataset: TEN Fish Survey Data
Deployment: TEN_2018-2019

Size and abundance data for fish communities across the Thalassia Experimental Network (TEN) sites

Principal Investigator:

Justin Campbell (Smithsonian Marine Station, SMS)

Co-Principal Investigator:

Andrew Altieri (University of Florida, UF)

James Douglass (Florida Gulf Coast University, FGCU)

Kenneth Heck (Dauphin Island Sea Lab, DISL)

Valerie J. Paul (Smithsonian Marine Station, SMS)

Contact:

Olivia Rhoades (Smithsonian Marine Station, SMS)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Project:

Collaborative Research: The tropicalization of Western Atlantic seagrass beds (Tropicalization Seagrass Beds)

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Data URL:

https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset-deployment/784773/data

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Description

Size and abundance data for fish communities across the Thalassia Experimental Network (TEN) sites.

Methods & Sampling

Dataset acquisition description

Fish surveys consisted of 50m x 2m x 2m visual benthic transects in the seagrass within and adjacent to the experimental array (20m x 10m) at each site. Where possible, these were conducted on SCUBA; otherwise, surveys were conducted by a single snorkeler. Surveys were initiated at one side of the long end of the subtidal caging experiment, with 20m of the transect within the experimental array and 30m outside of the array. Divers recorded both the abundance and estimated binned size of all fish species observed (>0.5cm minimum size, both cryptic and non-cryptic species occurring on the benthos or in the water column). Fish surveys were conducted every two weeks (with a minimum visibility of 3m) at each site in the TEN network.

Data Processing Description

Dataset Processing Description

Data Processing: Data was processed in R Statistical Software (R version 3.6.1 (2019-07-05)). All data files were merged and QA/QC'ed to ensure proper and consistent formatting and ensuring consistent species identification and spelling.

BCO-DMO Processing:
- added latitude, longitude, and full site names from the site cooridnates file provided to BCO-DMO;
- converted the latitude and longitude values from degrees-minutes-seconds to decimal degrees;
- replaced missing/empty values with "nd" ("no data").

More information about this dataset deployment

Funding

Award Number	Funding Source
OCE-1737247	NSF Division of Ocean Sciences

Instruments

Diving Mask and Snorkel

Supplied Name: snorkel

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Diving Mask and Snorkel

Generic Description:

A diving mask (also half mask, dive mask or scuba mask) is an item of diving equipment that allows underwater divers, including, scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater.

Snorkel: A breathing apparatus for swimmers and surface divers that allows swimming or continuous use of a face mask without lifting the head to breathe, consisting of a tube that curves out of the mouth and extends above the surface of the water.

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Supplied Name: SCUBA

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Acronym: SCUBA

Generic Description:

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or scuba diving system is the result of technological developments and innovations that began almost 300 years ago. Scuba diving is the most extensively used system for breathing underwater by recreational divers throughout the world and in various forms is also widely used to perform underwater work for military, scientific, and commercial purposes.

Reference: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/diving/diving.html

Parameters

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
abundance	Count of the number of individuals seen in a given size class of a given species	unitless	abundance
array	Whether the survey took place inside or outside the array. 0 = outside, 1 = inside, 2+ = unknown	unitless	site_descrip
date_collected	Date (local time zone) each survey was taken; format: yyyy-mm-dd	unitless	date
fish_spp	Scientific name of the fish species (Genus_species). Where a species was unidentifiable to the species level, a genus of family-level name was given (i.e. Scarus_spp)	unitless	taxon
full_names	Full name of the site	unitless	site
lat_dd	Site latitude in decimal degrees	degrees	lat
lon_dd	Site longitude in deicmal degrees	degrees	lon
season	Season during which each survey was taken	unitless	season
site	Site code; refer to "full_names" column for complete name	unitless	Site_ID
size_class	Estimated size class of the species, measured as length of the fish from tip to end of tail. Each number is the lower bound of the size class category of the species, with the upper bound being the next available size class (e.g. if an individual is in the “5” size class, that indicates that it is greater than or equal to 5cm and less than 10cm in length).	centimeters (cm)	fish_len
visibility	Visibility through the water column at the time the survey was conducted	meters (m)	visibility

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: TEN Fish Survey Data
Deployment: TEN_2018-2019

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: TEN Fish Survey DataDeployment: TEN_2018-2019

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Dataset: TEN Fish Survey Data
Deployment: TEN_2018-2019