Table 1. Information collected and quantified in this review from coral bleaching surveys and bleaching experiments published between January 2014 and August 2020.

Information was split into six sections: (1) meta-data, (2) sampling design, (3) specimen collection, (4) specimen sacrifice, (5) specimen processing, and (6) downstream analyses.

(1) Meta-data

1. Year of publication

2. Category of study (bleaching survey or bleaching experiment)

3. Author(s) and title of publication

4. Journal of publication

(2) Sampling design

1. Coral family, genus, and species name

2. Number of species sampled per study

3. Number of parent colonies sampled per species

4. Number of specimens sampled per parent colony

5. Total number of specimens collected per study (determined from 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 above)

6. Total number of specimens collected per year (determined from 1.1 and 2.5 above)

(3) Specimen collection

1. Type of specimen collected from the reef (e.g., fragment, skeletal core, mucus, tissue)

2. Tool(s) used to collect specimens (e.g., hammer and chisel, drill, syringe)

3. If sterile techniquesa were used

4. Sizeb of parent colony (cm or cm2)

5. Sizeb of specimen (cm or cm2, applicable to fragments and skeletal cores only)

6. Specimen transportationc methods

7. Specimen transportationc duration (minutes)

8. Type of specimen collected post-experiment (e.g., fragment, mucus, tissue)

(4) Specimen preservation

1. Method of specimen sacrifice (e.g., snap frozen with liquid nitrogen, ethanol preservation, airbrushed live)

(5) Specimen processing

1. Post-sacrifice processing techniques (e.g., airbrushing, grinding, homogenizing)

2. Airbrushing methodsd

3. Homogenization methodse

4. Short-termf storage temperature (°C)

(6) Downstream analysesg

1. Number of downstream analyses conducted

2. Type of downstream analyses conducted

(A) Physiology (e.g., tissue biomass, chlorophyll concentration, lipid content)

(B) -Omics (e.g., RNAseq, metagenomics, 16S amplicons, whole genome)

(C) Microscopy and imaging (e.g., histology, electron microscopy, skeleton analysis)

Notes.

^aIncludes sterilization of collection tools or use of sterile storage containers.

^bIn situations where authors reported a range of numerical values, the midpoint of the range was recorded. Example: “corals were 5–10 cm in length”, the midpoint range value is 7.5 cm. In several instances, authors did not specify which size metric (height vs. width/diameter) they were reporting (e.g., “we collected 20 fragments (5 cm)”). In these situations, we assumed values represented heights for branching morphologies, and diameters for massive/mounding morphologies.

^cTransport refers to all steps taken between removal of sample from the reef and preservation (for survey type studies) or arrival at experimental location (for experimental studies).

^dAirbrush or waterpik and the type of liquid involved (e.g., saltwater, freshwater, buffer).

^eThe equipment used in the homogenization of specimens, and the duration of homogenization in seconds.

^fAny temperature at which the specimen was stored after sacrificing, during processing, and before the start of laboratory protocol for specific downstream analyses.