Summary data from the Heatwaves and Coral-Recovery Database (HeatCRD) covering global coral reef sites from 1977-2020

Abstract

This dataset is a summary table of the Heatwaves and Coral-Recovery Database (HeatCRD) introduced in van Woesik and Kratochwill (2024). The HeatCRD is the most comprehensive reference on coral recovery following marine heatwaves and other disturbances, encompassing 29,205 data records spanning 44 years from 12,266 sites, 83 countries, and 160 data sources. These data provide essential information to coral-reef scientists and managers to best guide coral-reef conservation efforts at both local and regional scales. The dataset includes metadata for coral reef sampling events, such as site descriptions, geographical coordinates, depth, distance to shore, exposure, turbidity, coral cover percentages, MPA descriptions, temperature measurements, windspeed, and thermal stress indicators over 23 years.

See van Woesik and Kratochwill (2024) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03221-3 for more information.

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/933334