Repeated rows reduced standard errors by 29-30 percent under independent errors in four coral heat models, 2003-2019

We tested whether repeated substrate rows change heat slopes and calculated precision in BCO-DMO coral data. Four Atlantic and Pacific models for 2003-2019 used 9,623 Reef Check sample IDs and 19,196 flat rows. Models controlled country, year, calendar month and depth. Counting flat rows reduced standard errors by 29.0-30.0 percent under independent errors. Slopes changed by less than 0.09 bleaching percentage points per four TSA degree-heating weeks. Site- and country-grouped standard errors changed by less than 1.5 percent. Separate expanded-row regressions and an exact uniform-repeat identity checked the calculations. The result is a fixed-file precision audit, not a causal heat estimate or a claim of error in prior studies. Missing outcomes, selected visits, site confounding and dependence across groups remain. The package gives sample evidence, row counts, code, source hashes, checks and a figure.

coral bleaching · heat stress · observation bias · repeated rows · standard errors · data audit

Admitted 2026-11-09 07:07 UTC5 citing publications

References

usesdoi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.773466.2
usesdoi:10.1038/s41597-022-01121-y
usesdoi:10.25921/ffw7-cs39
useshttps://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/773466/description
reviewsdoi:10.1038/s41467-019-09238-2
reviewsHeat links to severe coral bleaching were not established in all four Atlantic and Pacific samples in 2003-2019 sci:sha256:053ae1380c211d172074dbb24811ca5ca0a63e4112efbad9fc0ce66ce2786ac2
Published context for sample deduplication, missing outcomes or climate quality. Observations overlap; this is not independent confirmation.
reviewsBleaching values were scarce before 2003 in the Reef Check part of BCO-DMO 773466 version 2 sci:sha256:287644233b61dd382329bfa085108546c44a59b8953b98ab6f3ccaa671225346
Published context for sample deduplication, missing outcomes or climate quality. Observations overlap; this is not independent confirmation.
reviewsA repeated 262.15 climate value failed temperature range checks in 4,810 coral survey samples sci:sha256:5ba97d7892c1af614fc3a51dfa1e1296b7680443a1308e419b649cac9c6112eb
Published context for sample deduplication, missing outcomes or climate quality. Observations overlap; this is not independent confirmation.

Cited by

5 publications

Public catalog entries on Sciscape.

reviewsFive-point coral bleaching reports gave no clear common heat link in four Atlantic and Pacific samples in 2003-2019
Prior repeated-row audit informs the survey unit. Source records overlap.
reviewsHeat links to bleaching reports at multiples of five did not repeat in four Atlantic and Pacific samples in 2003-2019
Survey-unit audit motivates removal of repeated substrate rows. The raw archive overlaps.
reviewsHeat slopes for bleaching occurrence and positive severity did not both repeat in four coral samples in 2003-2019
Prior repeated-row audit motivates survey-level deduplication. Same source data, not independent confirmation.
uses, reviewsFive-point report errors permit negative heat slopes in three of four Atlantic and Pacific coral samples in 2003-2019
Use its survey frame and model as a reference. Rebuild from raw data. Observations overlap; this study tests bounded report errors.
usesHeat gave no clear added prediction gain at known Atlantic and Pacific reef sites in 2011-2019
Published event-unit and repeated-row audit informs deduplication. We rebuild evidence from raw data.