🪸 Coral Reef Ecosystem Guide
Reef sites support benthic, fish, and imagery workflows. Geometry is typically transects plus optional photo points/quadrats.
What you can do
- Benthic Transect (PIT/LIT/CIT) — benthic cover along transect lines.
- Fish Belt Transect — fish counts along belt transects.
- Benthic / Photogrammetry Images — photo quadrats, photogrammetry tracks.
Fast path to get started
- Create a Site as Coral Reef with a boundary polygon (https://marimap.com/app/sites/new (opens in a new tab)).
- Build a Plan for the protocol you need (https://marimap.com/app/surveys/plans/new (opens in a new tab)):
- Benthic: lines only (set intervals/lengths).
- Fish: lines only (set belt width/quadrat if used).
- Images: points/quadrats, lines, or AOIs.
- Run a Survey from the plan (https://marimap.com/app/surveys/new (opens in a new tab)):
- Choose method (PIT/LIT/CIT) for benthic; set belt width/quadrat for fish.
- Report if needed (https://marimap.com/app/reports/new (opens in a new tab)).
Suggested workflow
- Keep transect lines consistent between surveys.
- Standardize benthic category lists and fish size/width rules across teams.
- For imagery, document camera settings, altitude, and overlap in the survey description.
- Use plan filters to limit allowed taxa/codes for cleaner data entry.