Carbonate Budgets, Structure-from-Motion Products, and Topographic Complexity Measurements From Restored and Non-restored Areas of Coral Reefs in the Lower Florida Keys

During the summers of 2022 and 2023, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers conducted underwater surveys aimed at quantifying the impact that past coral restoration by Mote Marine Laboratory had on the reef-accretion process. The surveys were conducted along paired transects representing restored and non-restored areas of eight offshore reefs and three patch-reef sites in the Lower Florida Keys. At each location per reef, USGS researchers conducted photographic surveys (these images are published in an accompanying release by Johnson and others, 2025) to generate structure-from-motion (SfM) products (point clouds, orthomosaics, and digital surface models), which were used to quantify percent cover of corals and other benthos and topographic complexity. USGS researchers also conducted census surveys of bioeroding parrotfishes, urchins, and sponges at each site. The percent cover and census-survey data were used in an associated study (Toth and others, 2025) to quantify differences in carbonate budgets (gross carbonate production, bioerosion, and reef-accretion potential) between restored and non-restored areas of each reef. The SfM models were also used to quantify the impact of restoration on topographic complexity at the offshore sites by measuring the impact of digitally removing outplanted coral colonies.

Johnson, S.A., Toth, L.T., Jenkins, C.M., and Lyons, E.O., 2025, Diver-based structure-from-motion imagery from coral reef restoration surveys in the Lower Florida Keys: July 2022 and July 2023: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1WHKTRD.

Toth, L.T., Johnson, S.A., Lyons, E.O., Spadaro, J., Stathakopoulos, A., Bloomer, S.K., Mallon, J., Jenkins, C.M., Williams, S.D., Combs, I., Craig, Z., and Muller, E., 2025, Coral restoration can drive rapid increases in reef-accretion potential: Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04818-3.