This metadata is for the file "reefresilience_data.csv" which is the core dataset for Zhang et al. 
See manuscript for details regarding the study purpose and data collection. 
Briefly, we tested the hypothesis that coral species richness and other covariates are related to the loss of coral cover due to disturbances and subsequent coral community recovery. 

Data columns:
study=data source (refer to Text S1 for full citations)
disturbance=categorical disturbance type
region=categorical geographical region
mindepth, maxdeopth=min and max depth (m) as reported in the published studies 
blcc="baseline" or pre-disturbance total absolute living coral cover
pdcc=post-disturbance living coral cover
decline=coral cover change recorded and attributed to observed disturbance by component studies, i.e., blcc - pdcc
tot.rec=total coral cover recovery; observed change (generally an increase) in coral cover after disturbance by the end of the study
years.bw=number of years until peak post-disturbance coral cover was recorded
richness=estimated coral species richness 
rec.rate=rate of annual increase in coral cover change post-disturbance (tot.rec/years.bw)