MarineGEO Coral Reef Habitat Monitoring Protocol

In this document, we provide MarineGEO’s standard survey design for sampling coral reef habitats, including key measurements of benthic cover, coral demographics, fish communities, and other properties of the ecosystem. Additionally, we provide define best practices for site selection, layout, and workflow. The methods in this protocol were adapted from Reef Life Survey (visual census, benthic photoquadrats), the IUCN Resilience Assessment of Coral Reefs rapid assessment protocol (coral demographics and conditions), and the CRTR Coral Disease Handbook (coral conditions assessment structure).