Sea Star Wasting Syndrome Modeling: Cox Proportional Hazards Data and Code

Sea Star Wasting Syndrome (SSWS) has been ongoing in echinoderm species of the North American Pacific Coast. Previous outbreaks, as well as the most recent one, have reduced sea 21 star populations to near-absence in many locations. To identify potential factors correlated with SSWS appearance, we combined intertidal surveys, citizen scientist disease observations, and environmental data. I modeled relationships between environmental variables and the risk of a site's transition from healthy to infected using a Cox Proportional Hazards Model. More information at www.seastarwasting.org. Sea star observations can be viewed interactively at data.piscoweb.org/marine1/seastardisease.html.If using any of these sea star observations or datasets, please acknowledge the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) and the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO).This code was written as part of the doctoral thesis of Monica Moritsch: Moritsch, M. (2018). Ecological causes and consequences of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome on the Pacific coast. UC Santa Cruz. ProQuest ID: Moritsch_ucsc_0036E_11614. Merritt ID: ark:/13030/m5x39vdx. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9dr8t5kq