EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY 31 AUGUST 2026 (00:01 EDT | 05:01 BST | 14:01 AEST)
Title: Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025 – Chapter 1 – Australia
Authors: Michael J. Emslie*, Richard D. Evans*, Sterling B. Tebbett*, Emma V. Kennedy, James Gilmour, James Gilmour, Tracy Ainsworth, Ashton Gainsford, Manuel González-Rivero, Andrew S. Hoey, Murray Logan, Jennie Mallela, Elizabeth Oh, Claire L. Ross, Britta Schaffelke, Blake Spady, Angus Thompson, Tahlia Bassett, Thomas Holmes, Christopher L. Lawson, Molly Moustaka, Molly Moustaka, William D. Robbins, Chris Roelfsema, Nicole Ryan, Jodi Salmond, Rick Stuart-Smith, Damian Thomson.
*Joint co-authors
Contributor Roles: CRediT statement for this chapter
Date: 31st August 2026
Institution: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59387/LFPR6347.AUS
Part of: Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025
Cite this chapter: Emslie, M. J., Evans, R. D., Tebbett, S. B., Kennedy, E. V., et al. (2026). Chapter 1 – Australia. In González-Rivero, M., et al. Status and Trends of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). https://doi.org/10.59387/LFPR6347.AUS
Copyright Information: Copyright © 2026, Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).
Supplementary Material: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21824430
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit services, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose without prior permission in writing.
With thanks to the co-authors of this chapter:
Michael J. Emslie, Richard D. Evans, Sterling B. Tebbett, Emma V. Kennedy, James Gilmour, Tracy Ainsworth, Ashton Gainsford, Manuel González-Rivero, Andrew S. Hoey, Murray Logan, Jennie Mallela, Elizabeth Oh, Claire L. Ross, Britta Schaffelke, Blake Spady, Angus Thompson, Tahlia Bassett, Thomas Holmes, Christopher L. Lawson, Molly Moustaka, William D. Robbins, Chris Roelfsema, Nicole Ryan, Jodi Salmond, Rick Stuart-Smith, Damian Thomson.
Edited by: Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero; Thomas Dallison; Jeremy Wicquart; Amanda Brigdale; Murray Logan; Emily K. Fobert; Francis Staub; Serge Planes.
With thanks to the data contributors:
Tracy Ainsworth; Tahlia Bassett; David R. Bellwood; Graham J. Edgar; Michael Emslie; Richard Evans; Jan Freiwald; James Gilmour; Andrew Hoey; Thomas Holmes; Bill Leggat; Nick Leigh; Jennie Mallela; Jenny Mihaly; Molly Moustaka; Lizzi Oh; Melanie Orr; William Robbins; Chris Roelfsema; Claire Ross; Nicole Ryan; Rick D. Stuart-Smith; Sterling B. Tebbett; Angus Thompson; Damian Thomson
The GCRMN produces estimations regarding the status and trends of coral reefs using data acquired by the members of the GCRMN network. The data are collected following Data Sharing Agreements (DSA) with data contributors and as such the GCRMN is not the owner of datasets shared by its members. Therefore, for the “Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025” report, the GCRMN is unable to share the raw datasets. However, some members of the GCRMN network and report contributors have made their datasets publicly available. For benthic cover monitoring data, such open access datasets are listed here.
All code used to produce the results and figures presented in the “Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025” GCRMN report is openly available on a GitHub repository. This repository allows full reproducibility and transparency of the analyses.
