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Reliability and utility of citizen science reef monitoring data collected by Reef Check Australia, 2002-2015
Terence Done1, Chris Roelfsema2, Andrew Harvey3
1Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB #3, Townsville MC, QLD 4810, Australia; Reef Check Australia, PO Box 13204, George St, Brisbane, QLD 4003, Australia; Museum of Tropical Queensland, 78-102 Flinders St, Townsville, Queensland 4810, Australia.
Abstract:
Reef Check Australia (RCA) has collected data on benthic composition and cover at >70 sites along >1000km of Australia's Queensland coast from 2002 to 2015. This paper quantifies the accuracy, precision and power of RCA benthic composition data, to guide its application and interpretation. A simulation study established that the inherent accuracy of the Reef Check point sampling protocol is high (<±7% error absolute), in the range of estimates of benthic cover from 1% to 50%. A field study at three reef sites indicated that, despite minor observer- and deployment-related biases, the protocol does reliably document moderate ecological changes in coral communities. The error analyses were then used to guide the interpretation of inter-annual variability and long term trends at three study sites in RCA's major 2002-2015 data series for the Queensland coast.