Benthic cover derived from line-point intercept (LPI) surveys in Faga'alu, American Samoa from 2012-08-14 to 2012-08-16 (NCEI Accession 0169728)

At each survey site, a SCUBA diver quantitatively documented the benthic composition at 20-cm intervals along two 25-m transects for a total of 125 data points per transect. All living benthic elements (e.g., coral, algae, and other sessile invertebrates) were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible.

Raw survey data consist of counts of benthic elements, including but not limited to coral, carbonate pavement, sand, rubble, macroalgae, crustose coralline algae, turf algae, as well as other sessile invertebrates along the two transects. The data allows for the assessment and monitoring of community structure and composition, and provide the basis for computing quantitative estimates of benthic cover (%) at higher taxonomic levels like functional group (coral, macroalgae, turf algae) or on a finer taxonomic resolution such as genus level.