PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Emma Kennedy
AU  - Chris Roelfsema
AU  - Mitchell Lyons
AU  - Eva Kovacs
AU  - Rodney Borrego-Acevedo
AU  - Meredith Roe
AU  - Stuart Phinn
AU  - Kirk Larsen
AU  - Nicholas Murray
AU  - Doddy Yuwono
AU  - Jeremy Wolff
AU  - Paul Tudman
TI  - Reef Cover: a coral reef classification to guide global habitat mapping from remote sensing
AID  - 10.1101/2020.09.10.292243
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.09.10.292243
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/11/2020.09.10.292243.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/11/2020.09.10.292243.full
AB  - Coral reef management and conservation stand to benefit from improved high-resolution global mapping. Yet classifications employed in large-scale reef mapping to date are typically poorly defined, not shared or region-specific. Here we present Reef Cover, a new coral reef geomorphic zone classification, developed to support global-scale coral reef habitat mapping in a transparent and version-based framework. We developed scalable classes by focusing on attributes that can be observed remotely, but whose membership rules also reflect knowledge of reef formation, growth and functioning. Bridging the divide between earth observation data and geo-ecological knowledge of reefs, Reef Cover maximises the trade-off between applicability at global scales, and relevance and accuracy at local scales. We use the Caroline and Mariana Island chains in the Pacific as a case study to demonstrate use of the classification scheme and its scientific and conservation applications. The primary application of Reef Cover is the Allen Coral Atlas global coral reef mapping project, but the system will support bespoke reef mapping conducted at a variety of spatial scales.Competing Interest StatementAll coauthors are funded by Vulcan Inc, a US-based philanthropic organisation who funded the research.