Sampling Design Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) provides a biennial ecological characterization at a broad spatial scale of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition/density/size, benthic cover, and coral density/size/condition). These documents describe the sampling designs used to monitor coral reefs and associated biological communities around Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) as part of NCRMP

NCRMP began in 2013 and over the years the sampling design has changed to integrate new information, achieve new objectives and develop more precise measurements. This report is divided by year and jurisdiction to describe each sampling design. In general sampling for each jurisdiction occurs biennially with sampling in Puerto Rico, and the USVI and Flower Garden Banks occurring in alternating years.

To describe the sampling designs used to monitor coral reefs and associated biological communities around Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) as part of NCRMP

There are two versions of this document that may be downloaded , the 2013-2015 version and the 2016 version.