The present database is the outcome of a 3-year research program designed to increase knowledge about the distribution and abundance of dominant benthic assemblages along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL, eastern Canada). This program, which began in 2020, was designed and spearheaded by Dr. Patrick Gagnon (pgagnon@mun.ca), Professor of Marine Ecology in the Department of Ocean Sciences (OSC) of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) with primary funding from the Ecosystems and Oceans Science Contribution Framework (EOSCF) of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada .

It focused on kelp and rhodolith beds and combined a range of approaches and technologies to create a large volume of novel georeferenced data products. A total of 30 sites were surveyed that primarily spanned the east and west coasts of Newfoundland. The majority of the sites were sampled once in either 2021 or 2022 and a few were surveyed more intensively over the 2 years. Data generated from this project are available for viewing or download in the sections below. Each section is for a specific site and date and contains a ReadMe file (.txt format) that describes the structure and content of data products.

In addition to reading the ReadMe file in each section, we highly recommended reading the following ArcGIS StoryMap for further details about the project and detailed descriptions of the various data products available here on Dataverse: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7ba4b78c66e9479795a6d429d0051570

If you are interested in downloading any datafiles, please email pgagnon@mun.ca and include a short description of how you are planning to use the data.