[Coral-List] Updated bleaching database available

[Donner, Simon]

Hi folks,


We've released an updated version of the global coral bleaching database first published back in 2017.

The two-part database includes i) a spreadsheet listing raw bleaching observations from 1963 to 2017, and ii) 0.05° X 0.05° annual maps of the probability of bleaching occurrence between 1985 and 2017, developed via spatial modelling. We finished the work a while back, and forgot to post it here!


The observational data comes from existing datasets as well as mining the literature, reaching out to monitoring groups, and hassling some people on this list. This includes back-filling gaps in older data, so if you are doing research on the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s, I recommend using this newer version of the observational data.


The work is described in this new paper led by Alejandra Urcelay:

<https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281719>https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281719


The data itself is available here:

https://zenodo.org/record/6780843#.Y-57SYTMI2w

We hope the data is useful for all of you, whether examining spatial and temporal patterns, testing bleaching prediction algorithms, calibrating climate projections, etc. For an example, Pedro González-Espinosa recently used the observational data to test whether incorporating cloudiness into prediction algorithms changes future projections for coral reefs:


https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000090


Cheers,


Simon

--
Simon Donner · Professor, Climate Scientist
University of British Columbia · Musqueam traditional territory
Member, Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body
@simondonner