This dataset is part of a broader compilation named 'Standardized datasets of Brazilian reef diversity in space and time' created from a research network of reef scientists within several projects and collaborations and finally gathered and published by the ReefSYN group.
This dataset, used by Aued et al. (2018)—data also published on DRYAD (https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.f5s90), includes plot-level cover information of ~100 benthic taxa from 3,855 photoquadrats deployed at 40 localities from 15 different locations, spanning 0° to 27°S. The sampling localities indicated here are the same from Morais et al. (2017). Benthic organisms were identified at the lowest possible taxonomic level (i.e., morphotype, species, order) according to constraints related to image identification. Image processing was done using the Coral Point Count with Excel extensions software (CPCe v. 4.1) (Kohler and Gill, 2006) or the photoQuad software (Trygonis & Sini, 2012). Bare substrate, sediment, lost information (shade, quadrat, tape) and turf were not included in the data because they do not represent taxonomic entities in which DCS standards are based. Sampling descriptors include photoquadrat ID, depth, date or year and, for some samples, observer ID. The geographical information is indicated at the locality level. Six to 20 2 × 1 m horizontal surfaces of reef area on each depth strata, separated by at least two meters of distance from each other, were considered independent sample units. Plots were haphazardly selected for the photoquadrats (25 × 25 cm; following the sampling design in Longo et al. 2019; Dataset IX).