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Seven classes were used to denote the approximate proportion of each polygon occupied by hard bottom substrate. A polygon encompassing several patch reefs that were too small to be delineated individually is actually comprised of some area of patch reefs and some background structure such as sand. This category includes both “living” hard bottom such as patch reefs, as well as “abiotic” features such as pavement and rock/boulder. This attribute can be used to estimate the combined amount of coral reef and hard bottom around the island based on the area of each polygon. |