Hawaiʻi Coral Disease database (HICORDIS): species-specific coral health data from across the Hawaiian archipelago
Jamie M. Caldwell,
John H.R. Burns,
Courtney Couch,
Megan Ross,
Christina Runyon,
Misaki Takabayashi,
Bernardo Vargas-Ángel,
William Walsh,
Maya Walton,
Darla White,
Gareth Williams,
Scott F. Heron
Affiliations
Jamie M. Caldwell
Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaiʻi, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744, USA; Corresponding author.
John H.R. Burns
Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaiʻi, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744, USA
Courtney Couch
Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaiʻi, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744, USA
Megan Ross
Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaiʻi, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744, USA
Christina Runyon
Department of Microbiology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Misaki Takabayashi
Marine Science Department, University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Bernardo Vargas-Ángel
Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaiʻi, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
William Walsh
Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740, USA
Maya Walton
University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Darla White
Maui Division of Aquatic Resources, Wailuku, HI 96793, USA
Gareth Williams
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Anglesey LL59 5AB, United Kingdom
Scott F. Heron
Coral Reef Watch, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park, MD 20740, USA; Marine Geophysical Laboratory, Physics Department, College of Science, Technology and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; Global Science and Technology, Inc., Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA
The Hawaiʻi Coral Disease database (HICORDIS) houses data on colony-level coral health condition observed across the Hawaiian archipelago, providing information to conduct future analyses on coral reef health in an era of changing environmental conditions. Colonies were identified to the lowest taxonomic classification possible (species or genera), measured and assessed for visual signs of health condition. Data were recorded for 286,071 coral colonies surveyed on 1819 transects at 660 sites between 2005 and 2015. The database contains observations for 60 species from 22 genera with 21 different health conditions. The goals of the HICORDIS database are to: i) provide open access, quality controlled and validated coral health data assembled from disparate surveys conducted across Hawaiʻi; ii) facilitate appropriate crediting of data; and iii) encourage future analyses of coral reef health. In this article, we describe and provide data from the HICORDIS database. The data presented in this paper were used in the research article “Satellite SST-based Coral Disease Outbreak Predictions for the Hawaiian Archipelago” (Caldwell et al., 2016) [1]. Keywords: Marine biology, Coral, Reefs, Disease, Hawaii