Unexpected system-wide resilience of Australian coral reefs to recent heatwaves and cyclones

This data examines our standardized monitoring of 476 reef sites spanning Australian waters (>5,000 km) from 2008 to 2024 despite local reef volatility. Sites were censused using the Reef Life Survey methodology within the period 21 March 2008 to 17 Dec 2024. Site initial and final sampling dates spanned 7.2 years on average, with 91% of sites assessed both before and after the extreme March 2016 heatwave. A total of 48 sites were surveyed across the southern Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea in November and December 2024, thus capturing mortality from the severe March 2024 bleaching event. Data was analysed in R using Random Forests methodology and based on the CSV file. Complementary to this was a Baysian Network model (developed in Netica, www.norsys.com) which showed similar results but highlights that the partition of factors is informative. Both models are included. The compiled Bayesian Network model can be examined in the freely downloaded software from Norsys. , Site initial and final sampling dates spanned 7.2 years on average, with 91% of sites assessed both before and after the extreme March 2016 heatwave. A total of 48 sites were surveyed across the southern Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea in November and December 2024.  Divers photographed 50-m transect lines at 2.5 m intervals to assess coral cover (20 0.4-x-0.3 m photoquadrats per transect), with two transects generally assessed at each site. Sites were each surveyed 2.9 times on average.  Corals in photoquadrats were identified to highest taxonomic level (generally species) by a single expert (ET) for consistency. A total of 505 coral taxa were categorized in images, of which 351 were known species (73% of total cover identified to species) and 154 recorded as a higher taxonomic and morphological combination (98% of total cover identified to genus). For the Bayesian Network Model, the causal network formed the basis of a naive Bayesian Network (BN) within the Netica V6.0..., # Data from: Unexpected system-wide resilience of Australian coral reefs to recent heatwaves and cyclones Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.xd2547dwf](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xd2547dwf) ### Files and variables The CSV file shows the field sites that were censused using the Reef Life Survey methodology within the period 21 March 2008 to 17 Dec 2024. #### File: Edgar_et_al_Coral_Change.R **Description:** R code to run the analysis in R The R code shows the relationships between absolute change in coral cover and potential drivers of change were assessed using random forest models. #### File: original_with_focus_on_time_manual_v2.neta **Description:** A compiled Bayesian Network model developed in Netica by Norsys. #### File: Edgar_et_al_Coral_Change_Dryad.csv **Description:** A table of sites with the survey results and covariates. Variables include: * case: integer * X: Integer * site_code: Catagorical such as CS1 * site_code2: Catagorical such as CS1b * start_date: dd/mm/y..., ,