This study was performed to document changes in reef structure over time (2005-2020) and space (Ft. Lauderdale to Dry Tortugas) using demographic, or colony-based, measures of colony size and shape collected by the Florida Reef Resilience Program. The total number and combined size of colonies across the entire region were calculated from this robust dataset as were estimates of services provided for fish habitat and carbonate storage. Data from 2005 to 2020 were analyzed to describe the abundance, size, and morphological complexity of stony coral colonies forming the biogenic reef. Colony height, footprint, surface area, and volume summed for 6016 transects were used to describe reef structure and averages were used to characterize the components that contributed to the structure. Nearly 150,000 colonies representing 49 species were reported during this period.

This dataset is associated with the following publication: Fisher, W. Reef structure of the Florida Reef Tract for the period 2005-2020. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT. Springer, New York, NY, USA, 195(10): 1242, (2023).