Abstract
Although various monitoring studies have conducted for corals in seas close to Japan since 1970’s, the outputs were compiled in different formats, and therefore, intercomparison of the results was extremely difficult. In this study, we collected numerous bulletin reports and monitoring data on coral cover (percentage of corals relative to whole substrate), developed a database in a unified format, and analyzed the database. Our study suggests that time series of coral cover is substantially different among oceanic regions close to Japan. Further analyses of controlling factors on coral cover such as the water temperature and counter-pest density using the database are anticipated to allow us to evaluate more quantitatively the influence of the stress factors on coral cover in each oceanic region.
