Octocoral height, density, and genera from in situ observations within octocoral forests in Lameshur Bay St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands from July 2019 to Jan 2020

Abstract

These data represent the individual octocoral genera, height, and density that compose octocoral forests in in Lameshur Bay St. John U.S. Virgin Islands. These data were used in conjunction with invertebrate abundance data to test for an association between octocoral forest parameters and benthic invertebrate community composition. Surveys of octocoral forests were conducted on SCUBA during July – August of 2019 and in January of 2020 quadrats (1 m2) placed at ≤ 13-m depth.

These data were collected as part of an NSF Coral Reef Time Series, Virgin Islands: Long-term coral reef community dynamics in the Virgin Islands National Park and were published in Girard and Edmunds (2023).

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/892265