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BRG The University of Queensland
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### Mapping and monitoring options: Coral bleaching impact

What severity of bleaching do you wish to map or monitor?

Bleaching severity is defined as follows (Marshall and Schuttenberg, 2006):

Severe (to extreme) coral bleaching: 51-90 (to 100)% of colonies bleached. Bleaching very frequent and conspicuous, most (or all) corals are bleached.

Moderate coral bleaching: 11-50% of colonies bleached. Bleached colonies frequent but account for less than half of all colonies.

Low level bleaching: 1-10% of colonies bleached. Bleached colonies seen occasionally and are conspicuous, but the vast majority of colonies not bleached.

No bleaching: <1% of colonies bleached. No bleaching observed, or only very occasional, scattered bleached colonies (one or two observed per dive).

## Reference:

Marshall, P. and Schuttenberg, H. (Eds) (2006) A Reef Manager's Guide to Coral Bleaching, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/13083/AReefManagersGuidetoCoralBleaching.pdf