0202410211107

CoralWatch Description: CoralWatch, based at The University of Queensland, Australia, is a well-established citizen science program founded in 2002.

CoralWatch integrates global coral health monitoring with education and public outreach creating reef awareness using simple and engaging tools. This provides people with accessible information about coral reefs and climate change, and hands-on experience collecting scientific data on coral bleaching using the Coral Health Chart. The chart is an easy-to-use tool to quantify changes in coral colour associated with coral bleaching on the reef. The chart is designed for use by volunteers as a simple technique for rapid assessment of changing coral colour conditions on the reef. The chart is used in the field and classroom, is available in 12 languages and data on >230,000 corals from >1910 reefs in 79 countries is publicly accessible.

In 2002, when corals were bleaching on Heron Island, a world first DIY method to monitor coral bleaching was developed by scientists from The University of Queensland: Prof. Justin Marshall, Dr. Uli Siebeck, Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and Dr. Anke Kleuter. Coral fragments were put in controlled aquaria where temperature was increased over several days to simulate a bleaching event. Changes in symbiont density and colours were measured and scientific analysis resulted in the development of the Coral Health Chart. The chart is a proxy indicator of symbiont density with a 6-point numerical scale. The brightness corresponds to the symbiont density and the four common coral colours assist selecting the accurate number. The chart was validated by comparing monitoring results of untrained vs. trained observers in different field conditions.
STARDIT ID: 0202410211107

Dates

State ongoing
Start 2002-07-01
Form updated 2024-10-21

Report authors

Nicola Grobler (link)
Main report author

Location

Global. Data collected in 79 countries

URL

https://coralwatch.org/

Other IDs

Citizen science: {{{id_val}}}

Aims

CoralWatch aims to create public understanding of the value of reefs and provides opportunities to actively help save the reef through participation in scientific research and education.

CoralWatch manages an interactive online space and database providing up-to-date data on reef conditions worldwide.

CoralWatch supports an expanding network of volunteers engaged in coral health monitoring and building community capacity to respond to climate change and coral bleaching events.

CoralWatch provides hands-on monitoring and education tools raising awareness of reef importance and issues encouraging behavioural change towards a sustainable, low-carbon future.

Keywords

citizen science

reef monitoring

coral health

Category

management/monitoring

Inputs

organisation

University of Queensland (link)

Task: Funded and host office
Recruitment: Three recruited paid staff, volunteer selected ambassadors and other community volunteers
Communication: In person and online

Outputs and impacts

dataset (open)

Stage: Revision of the database went live in 2024

Database of coral health data (link)

Findability: On the CoralWatch website | Atlas of Living Australia
Accessibility: Powered by Atlas of Living Australia (ALA)
Accessibility (URL): https://coralwatch.org/maps/
Impact: Data all gathered in single platform and links in with ALA