A surrogacy approach to evaluate the habitat potential of Australian submarine canyons

Brief description

The seascape of the vast Australian continental margin is characterised by numerous submarine canyons (n=753) that represent an equally vast array of geomorphic and oceanographic heterogeneity. Theoretically, this heterogeneity translates into habitats that may vary equally widely in their ecological characteristics. Here we describe the methodology to develop a surrogacy framework to broadly derive estimates of potential habitat condition (¿suitability¿ sensu lato) for pelagic and epibenthic megafauna (including demersal fishes), and benthic infauna in all of Australia¿s known submarine canyons using 22 environmental/ecological variables. We find that the high geomorphic and oceanographic diversity of submarine canyons creates a multitude of potential habitat types. In general, it appears that canyons may be particularly high-quality for benthic species. Canyons that incise the shelf tend to score higher in habitat potential than those confined to the slope. Canyons with particularly high habitat potential are located mainly off the Great Barrier Reef, the NSW coast, the eastern margin of Tasmania and Bass Strait, and on the southern margin. Many of these canyons have complex bottom topography, are likely to be productive, and have less intense sediment disturbance regimes. The framework presented here can be relevant ¿ once refined and comprehensively validated with ecological data - in a management and conservation context to identify canyons (or groups of canyons) that are likely to represent high-value habitat along a vast continental margin where marine planning decisions may require spatial prioritization decisions. This abstract was submitted/presented to the 2017 Australian Marine Science Association Conference - AMSA (https://www.amsa.asn.au/2017-darwin)

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned

Statement: This abstract is based on the canyon habitat assessment study funded by NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub. Citation: Huang, Z., Schlacher, T., Nichol, S., Williams, A., Althaus, F., Kloser, R., 2017. A surrogacy approach to evaluate the habitat potential of Australian submarine canyons, AMSA 2017, Darwin, Australia, July 2-6.

Notes

Purpose
Abstract submitted to 2017 Australian Marine Science Association Conference - AMSA