Coral size and condition data collected by the Guam Long-term Coral Reef Monitoring Program from 2010-08-04 to 2019-09-06 (NCEI Accession 0228761)

The location of coral colony survey quadrats at permanent sampling stations are marked using masonry nails, facilitating the near-identical positioning of quadrats during subsequent visits. However, the identical re-positioning of some quadrats could not be attained during subsequent visits due to the failure to re-locate the nails. The monitoring sites represent high priority reef areas selected by an advisory body comprised of reef managers, researchers, and technicians.

The sites were not selected randomly from around the island and thus should not be considered representative of reef condition at the island-scale. While the general location of the sites were selected based on management priority, the site boundaries were delineated using bathymetry and benthic habitat data within ArcGIS; the locations of the sampling stations were generated randomly within each site’s boundaries using ArcGIS.