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Context

If you are interested in Saving the Planet, learning R is going to be very useful for you!

This is because:

  1. R provides a means to readily process data independent of “scale”. A script that processes the information from 10 sites, should also be able to process the information of 1,000 or 100,000 sites similarly (assuming that the data are standardised). Part of this training course is to help with data standardisation techniques and how to structure code to be able to process data independent of the amount!

  2. Coding in R and including clear documentation creates a transferable solution for others to adapt and apply to their own data processing needs. If there is a shared, common understanding of workflows and similar use of R packages and tools across the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region, it means that you can benefit from efforts of others. As part of building capability in the GCRMN WIO node, this training course will provide templates for frequent data processing and visualisation tasks. In addition, we will also touch on how to access remote data sources (e.g. sea surface temperature) to connect to your monitoring data.

  3. Many of the tools and techniques that will covered in this training course can be applied to other data and habitat types. For example, being able to standardise data, manage spatial information, and connect to remote databases are applicable to systems beyond coral reefs. As many coral reef ecosystems are dependent on adjacent mangrove, lagoon, and coastal processes, our hope is that these skills can be applied to other systems - including the characterisation of Ecosystem services, conservation and management, sustainable development and broader societal goals.

Relevance for the GCRMN

As the GCRMN aims to assimilate monitoring data from “grass roots” monitoring of individual coral reefs to report on the global status and trends, this training course serves as an important step in building capability and teaching resources that can be transferred to other regions.

Our hope is that experience gained during this training course can inform broader GCRMN processes, including the standardisation of benthic categories for analysis, visualisation techniques, and the link between data-code-communication of coral reef status and trends.

Video instruction

Please review this short video explanation of coding practises that can help address global challenges:

Next Steps

As an example of how information from local monitoring data has been aggregated to inform regional status & trends of coral reef, have a look at the Coral reef monitoring in the WIO region