[dataset]: MarineGEO Global Seagrass Habitat Monitoring Data

Dataset Name

marinegeo-seagrass-monitoring

Link to DwC Data Files

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h9bapgplj1bmfk4/AADnz_IF8hOo89fi6o3sMeDBa?dl=0

Link to Scripts

No response

Link to "raw" Data Files

No response

Describe your dataset and any specific requests.

I've loaded everything into the US IPT, but have included a Dropbox link for anyone who wants to view the data.

Besides any issues I've missed, I'd like to get feedback on how we've structured the event table. The seagrass surveys are taken along a transect. At certain meter points along the transect, cover and density measurements are taken and epifauna samples are collected. Because these aren't the same sample (cover and density use different quadrat sizes, the epifauna is collected outside the quadrat area), we've broken each sample into a separate event. Here's a graphic of how I've structured it:

• Coordinates are collected as the start and end points of each transect so I've calculated the transect midpoint and only included lat/long on the transect event. The meter, cover/density/epifauna sub-events do not have location or depth.
• Depth max and min is also a single pair of values for the entire transect, and like the coords, I've only associated it with the transect-level event. Can i copy this for all child events as well?
• Is there a better option with the meter-level events? It preserves the structure of how our data was collected and allows distinct samples collected at the same meter # to be linked, but I wonder how much it challenges human readability/reasoning.
• Pieter Provoost suggested I use an eventType field for indicating quadrat and transect in the event field. I don't see that available in the mapping tool in the IPT. Can I still use it?
• I've also received previous feedback that DOIs shouldn't be included in measurementValueID but the OBIS manual allows it for sampling protocol/methodology DOI links. Should I remove the DOIs to our sampling protocol from this column?

Finally, I'm including the abstract for a bit more context of the data:
This dataset contains seagrass time-series monitoring data collected by the Smithsonian Institution’s MarineGEO (Marine Global Earth Observatory) and its network partners. The dataset includes measurements on seagrass density, seagrass cover, and epifaunal invertebrates. The data is collected using MarineGEO’s standard survey design for sampling seagrass habitats.
MarineGEO seagrass monitoring at each site is conducted along three 50-m fixed transects intended to be permanent and sampled regularly (usually annually). Transects are located parallel to shore and along the shallow (inshore), middle (interior), and deep (offshore) parts of the seagrass bed, although variation can occur due to local site conditions. The seagrass cover measurements are taken every 4 meters along the transect (n = 12 per transect), the seagrass density measurements are taken alongside the cover measurements at every other replicate (n = 6 per transect), and epifaunal community samples are collected every 8 meters (n = 3 per transect).
Seagrass cover is measured by placing a quadrat (recommended size is 50 x 50 cm) alongside the transect line and estimating the cover of each seagrass species, other sessile organisms, and bare substratum. Seagrass density is measured by counting the number of seagrass shoots within a quadrat (recommended size is 25 x 25 cm). Epifauna samples are collected by randomly selecting an area ~ 1 meter to any side of the transect and quickly removing seagrass shoots with associated epifauna into a mesh bag; the animals are later identified in a laboratory by the data collectors. All data has undergone QA/QC by MarineGEO Central at the Smithsonian after submission by MarineGEO partners.
Note that the dataset may include submerged aquatic vegetation (not technically seagrass) in brackish to tidal freshwater sites collected with the MarineGEO seagrass protocol.

Thank you all for the feedback!