Great Barrier Reef Coral Benthic Community Monitoring Data

2005 to present monitoring of inshore coral reef condition by the Australian Ocean Data Network. The program tracks percent cover of benthic organisms, juvenile coral densities, coral disease prevalence, and sediment composition across multiple Natural Resource Management regions. Data collection methods evolved from video frames to digital photography and standardized transect sampling.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in percent cover of hard corals, soft corals, and macroalgae from genus-level data to assess reef health.
• Model the relationship between juvenile coral densities (0-2cm, 2-5cm size classes) and environmental disturbances documented in the linked water quality dataset.
• Investigate geographic variation in coral disease prevalence across specific reef locations like Orpheus Island and Fitzroy Island.
• Correlate sediment grain size fractions and nitrogen levels with benthic community composition at monitored sites.
• Study changes in coral size class distributions over time using data from standardized 20m transects at 2m and 5m depths.

Strengths

• Long-term time-series data collection spanning from 2005 to the present.
• Multi-faceted monitoring includes organism cover, juvenile densities, disease, and sediment chemistry.
• Standardized sampling design with maintained transect markers and compass directions at fixed depths.

Limitations

• Incomplete geographic and temporal coverage, with not all variables collected at all locations in all years.
• Some historical data streams, like coral larval settlement to tiles, ended in 2012.
• Sediment samples from 2015-2020 are in storage without completed grain size or chemical analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network as part of the Reef Rescue Marine Monitoring Program.

Collection Method

Field surveys using video frames (2005) and later digital photos, with benthic cover estimated from transects at 2m and 5m depths.

Time Range

2005 - present

Freshness

Data collection is ongoing, with platform metadata updated in April 2026.

Geography

Inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, across multiple NRM regions including Wet Tropics and Fitzroy Basin.