122 reefs across the Central and Southern Great Barrier Reef were surveyed for coral cover and environmental stressor exposure from 1992 to 2017. The dataset includes total coral cover and specific growth forms like Acropora tabular and branching, alongside modeled data for cyclones, heat stress, water quality, and Crown-of-Thorns starfish outbreaks. Data was collected by the Australian Institute of Marine Science Long-Term Monitoring and Marine Monitoring Programs.
Use Cases
- Modeling the impact of cumulative heat stress (Degree Heating Weeks) on Acropora tabular coral cover.
- Analyzing the relationship between river-derived dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) loads and coral growth form composition.
- Assessing the combined effect of cyclones and Crown-of-Thorns starfish outbreaks on total coral cover over a 25-year period.
- Investigating the correlation between wet-season salinity indices and the cover of massive/submassive coral species.
Strengths
- Long-term temporal coverage spanning 25 years (1992-2017).
- Spatial coverage of 122 reefs (335 reef sites) on the Great Barrier Reef.
- Integrates multiple data sources including field surveys (LTMP/MMP), eReefs models, and published studies for a multi-stressor analysis.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Great Barrier Reef focus.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) via the Australian Ocean Data Network.
- Collection Method
- Coral cover data from permanent photo- and video belt transects at 5-9 m depth. Stressor exposure data collated from published models, eReefs outputs, and field survey datasets.
- Time Range
- 1992 to 2017
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-10 15:16:31.196431; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Central and Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia