Application of biophysical information to support Australia's representative marine protected area program
Dataset Identification:
Resource Abstract:
In order to protect the biological diversity of marine life in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the commonwealth
government has passed the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. The Act is being implemented
through preparation of regional marine plans (commenced in 2001) and by designing networks of representative marine protected
areas (MPAs) in both commonwealth and state waters. In the absence of direct information about the distribution of seabed
biodiversity, appropriate surrogates must be used instead. A major constraint is the short time-frame available to managers
to make decisions; only information that is readily accessible and available can be used under these circumstances. Existing
seabed bathymetry data were used to produce a geomorphic features map of the Australian EEZ. This map was used in conjunction
with existing fish diversity information and other data to derive a Benthic Bioregionalisation (2005) that subdivides Australia's
EEZ into 41 bioregions including 24 biologically unique provinces. Biophysical variables measured at broad spatial scales
apart from bathymetry (and derived variables such as seabed slope) include ocean primary production, seabed sediment properties,
temperature and sediment mobilisation due to waves and tides. To better characterise habitats on the Australian continental
margin, Geoscience Australia has created 'seascape' maps that integrate multiple layers of spatial data that are useful for
the prediction of the distribution of biodiversity.Existing seabed bathymetry data were used to produce a geomorphic features
map of the Australian EEZ. This map was used in conjunction with existing fish diversity information and other data to derive
a Benthic Bioregionalisation (2005) that subdivides Australia's EEZ into 41 bioregions including 24 biologically unique provinces.
Citation
Title Application of biophysical information to support Australia's representative marine protected area program
Metadata standard for this record:
ANZLIC Metadata Profile: An Australian/New Zealand Profile of AS/NZS ISO 19115:2005, Geographic information - Metadata
standard version:
1.1
Metadata record identifier:
a05f7892-d3f7-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6
Metadata record format is ISO19139-2 XML (MI_Metadata)