Great Barrier Reef Coral Monitoring Data from 2005

Monitoring data for coral community characteristics on inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, collected since 2005. The dataset includes percent cover of benthic organisms, juvenile coral densities, and coral disease prevalence, collected by the Australian Ocean Data Network. Sampling methods evolved from video frames to digital photos and transect-based size class measurements.

Use Cases

• Track long-term trends in coral cover and benthic community composition based on the percent cover data collected since 2005.
• Assess coral recruitment success and recovery processes based on juvenile coral density and coral larvae settlement tile data.
• Investigate the impact of acute disturbances and land runoff on reef health based on the described monitoring objectives.
• Analyze changes in coral colony size distributions over time based on the described sampling methodology changes from 2005 to 2018.

Strengths

• Long-term monitoring program with data collection starting in 2005.
• Includes multiple biological variables such as percent cover, disease prevalence, and juvenile coral densities.
• Spatially explicit data from numerous reef locations across four Natural Resource Management regions.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Some data streams, like coral larvae settlement and certain size distributions, ended in specific years (e.g., 2012, 2005).

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field monitoring using transects, video frames, and digital photography at 2m and 5m depths.

Time Range

2005 to present, with some variables ending in specific years.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-17 00:07:41.992645; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, across Wet Tropics, NQ Dry Tropics, Mackay Whitsunday Isaac, and Fitzroy Basin NRM regions.