This record provides sediment trap monitoring data collected periodically between 30 August 2023 and 6 February 2024 at 13 nearshore monitoring stations on the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico, as part of Culebra's Ridge-to-Reef Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to assess the effectiveness of the NOAA strategies and actions in priority watersheds to reduce land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) impacts to the nearshore marine ecosystems of the island. Monitoring stations were co-located with nearshore water quality monitoring sties and long-term seagrass monitoring transects. Monitoring stations were selected to identify watershed discharge points, coastal hydrodynamics, as well as the existing level of LBSP exposure and anticipated changes to LBSP exposure due to management actions. Nearshore monitoring stations were designated based on their land based sources of pollution management implementation status (LBSP Treatment Group), as follows: 1) LBSP Restoration stations: Located downstream where land-based pollutant management has or is being implemented. 2) LBSP Control stations: Represent a range of land-based pollutant impairments, including sites with no LBSP management, no known direct discharge of LBSP but are representative of the range of external factors that may be encountered at the LBSP Restoration stations. 3) Negative Reference stations of know significant -anecdotal and quantified- LBSP impairment. 4) Positive Reference stations of low LBSP impairment. Two replicate sediment traps were deployed at each monitoring station. Traps were constructed and installed following Storlazzi et al. (2011) with an added honeycomb baffle at the top to reduce turbulence in the trap and prevent sample disturbance by aquatic organisms. Traps were retrieved and redeployed periodically (30-Aug-22 to 6-Feb-23; 6-Feb-23 to 1-May-23; 1-May-23 to 07-Aug-23; 07-Aug-23 to 6-Nov-23; 6-Nov-23 to 6-Feb-24). In the lab, the accumulated sediment from one trap was dried and weighed to estimate accumulation rates (mg/cm2/day). The contents of the second trap were separated into coarse (<2 mm-63 um) and fine (<63 um) fractions, dried and weighed to the estimate accumulation rate, followed by a sequential loss on ignition procedure (following Edmunds & Gray 2014, Heiri et al. 2001) to assess the terrigenous, carbonate, and organic composition. Laboratory analyses were conducted at University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. Please review the Culebra Sediment Trap Monitoring Work Plan (Vargas-Angel 2024) for a complete methodological description. The data presented herein was collected with financial support from NOAA Restoration Center and NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The research questions, survey design and monitoring localities were specific to this study and the associated water quality data is unsuitable in a regulatory framework. References: Edmunds, Peter & Gray, Sarah. (2014). The effects of storms, heavy rain, and sedimentation on the shallow coral reefs of St. John, US Virgin Islands. Hydrobiologia. 734, 143-158. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10750-014-1876-7 Heiri, O., Lotter, A. F., & Lemcke, G. (2001) Loss on ignition as a method for estimating organic and carbonate content in sediments: Reproducibility and comparability of results Journal of Paleolimnology, 25, 101-110. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008119611481 Storlazzi, C. D., Field, M. E., & Bothner, M. H. (2011). The use (and misuse) of sediment traps in coral reef environments: Theory, observations, and suggested protocols. Coral Reefs, 30(1), 23-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0705-3 Vargas-Angel B (2024D) Culebra Sediment Trap Monitoring Work Plan: Developing a nearshore sediment trap monitoring program to evaluate changes in LBSP exposure in Culebra, Puerto Rico. Available at:

These data provide estimates of sediment accumulation at a number dirt road stabilization projects where Best Management Practices (i.e. sediment retention ponds, check dams, and crossdrains) were implemented to reduce terrigenous runoff and other land-based sources of pollution impacts to the nearshore marine habitats on Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. BMPs were strategically set up in priority watersheds to slow and divert runoff, prevent road scouring, and capture sediments to promote infiltration and reduce total pollutant loads. Data presented herein include the total sediment volume removed from the installed BMPs per road sediment, representing the total sediment volume accumulated and retained in-situ.

This record provides estimate data of sediment accumulation at a number of dirt road stabilization projects where Best Management Practices (i.e. sediment retention ponds, check dams, and cross drains) were implemented to reduce terrigenous runoff and other land-based sources of pollution impacts to the nearshore marine habitats on Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. BMPs were strategically set up in priority watersheds to slow and divert runoff, prevent road scouring, and capture sediments to promote infiltration and reduce total pollutant loads. Data presented herein include the total sediment volume removed from the installed BMPs per road sediment, representing the total sediment volume accumulated and retained in-situ.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains shoreline positions for the United States coasts from both older sources, such as aerial photographs or topographic surveys, and contemporary sources, such as lidar-point clouds and digital elevation models. These shorelines are compiled and analyzed in the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), version 5.1 software to calculate rates of change. Keeping a record of historical shoreline positions is an effective method to monitor change over time, enabling scientists to identify areas most susceptible to erosion or accretion. These data can help coastal managers understand which areas of the coast are vulnerable to change. This data release, and other associated products, represent an expansion of the USGS national-scale shoreline database to include Puerto Rico and its islands, Vieques and Culebra. The USGS, in cooperation with the Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Puerto Rico—part of the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus—has derived and compiled a database of historical shoreline positions using a variety of methods. These historical shoreline data are then used to measure the rate of shoreline change over time. Rate calculations are computed within a geographic information system (GIS) using the DSAS version 5.1 software. Starting from a user defined baseline, measurement transects are created by DSAS that intersect the shoreline vectors. The resulting intersections provide the location and time information necessary to calculate rates of shoreline change. The overall project contains shorelines, baselines, shoreline change rates (long-term and short-term), and shoreline intersects (long-term and short-term), for Puerto Rico, and the adjacent islands of Vieques and Culebra.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains shoreline positions for the United States coasts from both older sources, such as aerial photographs or topographic surveys, and contemporary sources, such as lidar-point clouds and digital elevation models. These shorelines are compiled and analyzed in the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), version 5.1 software to calculate rates of change. Keeping a record of historical shoreline positions is an effective method to monitor change over time, enabling scientists to identify areas most susceptible to erosion or accretion. These data can help coastal managers understand which areas of the coast are vulnerable to change. This data release, and other associated products, represent an expansion of the USGS national-scale shoreline database to include Puerto Rico and its islands, Vieques and Culebra. The USGS, in cooperation with the Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Puerto Rico—part of the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus—has derived and compiled a database of historical shoreline positions using a variety of methods. These historical shoreline data are then used to measure the rate of shoreline change over time. Rate calculations are computed within a geographic information system (GIS) using the DSAS version 5.1 software. Starting from a user defined baseline, measurement transects are created by DSAS that intersect the shoreline vectors. The resulting intersections provide the location and time information necessary to calculate rates of shoreline change. The overall project contains shorelines, baselines, shoreline change rates (long-term and short-term), and shoreline intersects (long-term and short-term), for Puerto Rico, and the adjacent islands of Vieques and Culebra.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains shoreline positions for the United States coasts from both older sources, such as aerial photographs or topographic surveys, and contemporary sources, such as lidar-point clouds and digital elevation models. These shorelines are compiled and analyzed in the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), version 5.1 software to calculate rates of change. Keeping a record of historical shoreline positions is an effective method to monitor change over time, enabling scientists to identify areas most susceptible to erosion or accretion. These data can help coastal managers understand which areas of the coast are vulnerable to change. This data release, and other associated products, represent an expansion of the USGS national-scale shoreline database to include Puerto Rico and its islands, Vieques and Culebra. The USGS, in cooperation with the Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Puerto Rico—part of the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus—has derived and compiled a database of historical shoreline positions using a variety of methods. These historical shoreline data are then used to measure the rate of shoreline change over time. Rate calculations are computed within a geographic information system (GIS) using the DSAS version 5.1 software. Starting from a user defined baseline, measurement transects are created by DSAS that intersect the shoreline vectors. The resulting intersections provide the location and time information necessary to calculate rates of shoreline change. The overall project contains shorelines, baselines, shoreline change rates (long-term and short-term), and shoreline intersects (long-term and short-term), for Puerto Rico, and the adjacent islands of Vieques and Culebra.

Puerto Rico relative erosion rate by land cover type (2000)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains shoreline positions for the United States coasts from both older sources, such as aerial photographs or topographic surveys, and contemporary sources, such as lidar-point clouds and digital elevation models. These shorelines are compiled and analyzed in the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), version 5.1 software to calculate rates of change. Keeping a record of historical shoreline positions is an effective method to monitor change over time, enabling scientists to identify areas most susceptible to erosion or accretion. These data can help coastal managers understand which areas of the coast are vulnerable to change. This data release, and other associated products, represent an expansion of the USGS national-scale shoreline database to include Puerto Rico and its islands, Vieques and Culebra. The USGS, in cooperation with the Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Puerto Rico—part of the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus—has derived and compiled a database of historical shoreline positions using a variety of methods. These historical shoreline data are then used to measure the rate of shoreline change over time. Rate calculations are computed within a geographic information system (GIS) using the DSAS version 5.1 software. Starting from a user defined baseline, measurement transects are created by DSAS that intersect the shoreline vectors. The resulting intersections provide the location and time information necessary to calculate rates of shoreline change. The overall project contains shorelines, baselines, shoreline change rates (long-term and short-term), and shoreline intersects (long-term and short-term), for Puerto Rico, and the adjacent islands of Vieques and Culebra.

Geochemical and isotopic compositions were determined in stream sediment and parent rocks collected in April 2017 and June 2017 and in nearshore sediment collected bimonthly in sediment traps from May 2017 to June 2018 in the coastal zone and 12 drainages of southwest Puerto Rico: Rio Loco, Yauco, Guayanilla, Macana, Tallaboa, Matilde, Portugues, Bucana, Inabon, Jacaquas, Descalabrado, and Coamo. Geochemical compositional data include: a) total contents of major, minor, trace, and rare earth elements in the <0.063 mm-diameter fraction of terrestrial (n=53) and nearshore sediment (n=63) and powdered rocks (n=19) analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS); b) major oxide contents of stream sediment (n=46) and rocks (n=19) determined by wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WD-XRF); and c) total organic carbon and carbonate contents of stream (n=48) and nearshore (n=64) sediment determined coulometrically. Isotopic compositional data include: 1) strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry in the <0.063 mm-diameter fraction of select stream (n=50) and nearshore (n=40) sediment, and in all rocks; and 2) activities of the short-lived cosmogenic nuclides beryllium-7, cesium-137, and excess (unsupported) lead-210 determined by gamma spectrometry on bulk nearshore sediment (n=44). The percentage by weight of the <0.063 mm-diameter sediment fraction (percent fines), the median grain size, and the silt to clay ratio are reported for stream (n=48) and nearshore (n=64) sediments. These data accompany Takesue, R.K., Sherman, C., Ramirez, N.I., Reyes, A.O., Cheriton, O.M., Rios, R.V., and Storlazzi, C.D., 2021, Land-based sediment sources and transport to southwest Puerto Rico coral reefs after Hurricane Maria, May 2017 to June 2018: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 59, p. 107476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107476.

This shapefile denotes the location of underwater photos and videos taken in shallow water (0-35m) benthic habitats surrounding Northeast Puerto Rico and Culebra Island. The area includes the nearshore waters of Fajardo and Luqillo to the Former Roosevelt Roads Navy Base, the Vieques Sound, La Cordillera Reserve, the Luis Pena Reserve, and the waters around Culebra Island. The GV data contains GPS-positioned underwater photo/videos of selected benthic habitats that were used to enhance thematic maps created by the Biogeography Team. The observations from the videos are used to classify seafloor features and develop a benthic habitat map. The GV data was collected in July 8 - 24, 2013 and October 22- November 7, 2013. The field work was conducted by NOAA together with local DRNA and NOAA contractors.