Benthic Cover Explore Visualizations

Published 19 Aug 2025, Updated 06 Nov 2025
381
By Iain R. Caldwell - Lead Data Analyst, MERMAID,
Benthic LIT
Benthic Photo Quadrat
Benthic PIT
Bleaching
R
Histogram
Time series
Donut plot

If you would like to recreate or modify the visualizations shown on MERMAID Explore that use data from one or more of the benthic protocols (PIT, LIT, Photo Quadrat, or Bleaching surveys), the link leads to code you can use to do so. Each of these benthic protocols collects information about the % cover of benthic categories. The following are example images visualizing that information.

Histogram showing the distribution of % hard coral cover across all MERMAID summary sample events. The code for this uses all benthic protocols.
Average % benthic cover across all summary sample events over time by category. The code for this combines information from three benthic protocols (PIT, LIT, and Photo Quadrat).
Benthic cover by category for an example single sample event (survey at a site on a given date) using the PIT protocol. However, the code could be adapted to use information from any of the other benthic protocols.