1998

The structure and persistence of reef fish assemblages of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

Pattengill, C. V.

Chapters 2, 4, and 5 of this dissertation present data collected using the RDT. Chapter 2 presents the complete fish assemblage reported by RDT and Stationary Diver Technique (SDT; referred to in Bohnsack, 1996, as the SST) surveys over three years of semi-annual surveys of the Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank, in the northwest Gulf of Mexico. Chapter 4 examines the quality of fish census data generated by REEF nonexperts, and was published in the Journal of Gulf of Mexico Science (Pattengill-Semmens and Semmens, 1998). Chapter 5 provides discussion on the applications and reasons for choosing the RDT and the SDT for this project. A comparison between the abundance estimates of the two methods and the biases inherent in each is also given.

Doctoral Dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
176pp.
1998
Program: 
Volunteer Fish Survey Project

1996

Analysis of a volunteer method for collecting fish presence and abundance data in the Florida Keys

Schmitt, E. F., and K. M. Sullivan

Roving diver data gathered by expert volunteers in the Florida Keys are presented and discussed. These data are found to be comparable to other Florida Keys published studies. Differences in the fish assemblages between the three regions of the Keys, the upper, lower, and the Dry Tortugas, are reported and evaluated. This paper was the first published account of the Roving Diver Technique (RDT).

Bulletin of Marine Science
59(2): 404-416
1996
Program: 
Volunteer Fish Survey Project

Status of Reef Fishes in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: Regional Project Summary

Schmitt, E., compiler

This report is a summary of the first 3 years of the Fish Survey Project in the Florida Keys, with comparisons among FKNMS sites and with other distant regions. It demonstrates some ways in which data from the Project can be used.

The Nature Conservancy, Florida and Caribbean Marine Conservation Science Center, University of Miami. Miami, FL.
37pp.
1996
Program: 
Volunteer Fish Survey Project

Two visually based methods for monitoring coral reef fishes

Bohnsack, J. A. (ed.)

This short paper, prepared after the second year of the Fish Survey Project, overviews the RDT and the more quantitative Stationary Sampling Technique. The advantages to the REEF RDT are discussed, including the information provided on fisheries-independent species and its simplicity. The author concludes that both methods can be used to answer a wide variety of monitoring and scientific questions, although each has advantages and disadvantages. Summary posted online at http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/coral/symposium/bohnsack.html.

In A Coral Reef Symposium on Practical, Reliable, Low Cost Monitoring Methods for Assessing the Biota and Habitat Conditions of Coral Reefs, Jan. 26-27, 1995. M.P. Crosby, G.R. Gibson, and K.W. Potts (eds.). Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
1996
Program: 
Volunteer Fish Survey Project

1993

Research applications of volunteer generated coral reef fish surveys

Schmitt, E. F., B. X. Semmens, and K. M. Sullivan.

This report is the first publication of the RDT, and was initially given at the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute meeting in Spring 1994.

The Nature Conservancy, Florida and Caribbean Marine Conservation Science Center, University of Miami. Miami, Fl.
15pp.
1993
Program: 
Volunteer Fish Survey Project

Pages