Data Use Agreement

These data were collected by the long-term coral reef dynamics research project in the US Virgin Islands led by Dr. Peter Edmunds at California State University Northridge (CSUN). The research described on these web pages was collected under the auspices of research permits issued by the US National Park Service. Research data are available to the public after primary publication, or up to two years after the completion of the study unless proprietary restrictions are warranted. Project reports, data, and deliverables are also maintained in St. John (local contact: Mr. Rafe Boulon, Chief of Resource Management, Division of Resource Management, VI National Park, 1300 Cruz Bay Creek, St. John, USVI 00830. e-mail: rafe_boulon@nps.gov).

These data packages are released under the Creative Commons license Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 , see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license states that consumers (“Data Users” herein) may distribute, adapt, reuse, remix, and build upon this work, as long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. If redistributed, a Data User may not apply additional restrictions or technological measures that prevent access.

The Data User has an ethical obligation to cite the data source appropriately in any publication or product that results from its use, and notify the data contact or creator. Communication, collaboration, or co-authorship (as appropriate) with the creators of this data package is encouraged to prevent duplicate research or publication. The Data User is urged to contact the authors of these data if any questions about methodology or results occur. The Data User should realize that these data may be actively used by others for ongoing research and that coordination may be necessary to prevent duplication or inappropriate use. The Data User should realize that misinterpretation may occur if data are used outside of the context of the original study. The Data User should be aware that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data.

While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. This data package (with its components) is made available “as is” and with no warranty of accuracy or fitness for use. The creators of this data package and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for any damages resulting from misinterpretation, use or misuse of the data package or its components.