The Lopez laboratory was tasked to conduct a study of microbial communities (“microbiomes”) for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection CRCP 13 project to characterize PEI and reef microbiomes with the standard 16S rRNA gene marker. Files attached here are the metadata for this project. We have combined DNA sequencing with traditional and novel water chemistry analyses (ion chromatography, high resolution mass spectrometry) to determine the following overarching goals: i) a comprehensive spatial profile of the microbial communities (and potential pathogens) present in PEI sediments (P) and adjacent Florida reef tract (R) sediments for 2020 and 2021; and ii) begin analyses that may link sediment parameters with microbiome profiles.