Brief description
The Marine Futures Project was designed to benchmark the current status of key Western Australian marine ecosystems, based on an improved understanding of the relationship between marine habitats, biodiversity and our use of these values. Approximately 1,500 km2 of seafloor were mapped using hydroacoustics (Reson 8101 Multibeam), and expected benthic habitats "ground-truthed" using towed video transects and baited remote underwater video systems. Both sources of information were then combined in a spatial predictive modelling framework to produce fine-scale habitat maps showing the extent of substrate types, biotic formations, etc. Surveys took place across 9 study areas, including Point Ann, a site which lies within the Fitzgerald Biosphere, a UNESCO designated International Biosphere Reserve and one of the largest and biologically significant National Parks in Australia (DEC) on West Australia’s south coast, approximately 180km east of Albany.Lineage
Statement: Areas of seafloor in water deeper than 10 metres were surveyed with hydroacoustics using a Reson 8101 Multibeam or interferometric swath echosounder system, mounted on the hull of the sampling vessel. These data were processed to construct full coverage maps of seafloor bathymetry and textural information. These maps, combined with observations recorded from in situ video footage, unerpinned the development of statistical models that produced the most efficient, objective, and ecologically meaningful classifications of sea floor features and inhabitants as possible for natural resource management and planning.Notes
CreditNatural Heritage Trust
Created: 2016-02-24
Data time period: 2006-01-01 to 2008-12-31
text: westlimit=119.563189; southlimit=-34.308192; eastlimit=119.773028; northlimit=-34.142046
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(DATA ACCESS - Point Ann reef habitat (ap_sub_d.shp) [direct download])
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