Survey of Giant Kelp Beds on Tasmania's East Coast, 1988

Four significant stands of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, each larger than half an acre, were documented at Darlington, Southerly Bottom, Fortesque Bay, and George III Rock. This dataset records the results of a 1988 boat-based survey conducted for a master's thesis, supplemented by anecdotal reports for unsurveyed areas. It provides a historical baseline for the distribution of this ecologically important marine species.

Use Cases

• Mapping historical kelp bed distribution based on documented survey locations.
• Establishing a baseline for studies on Macrocystis pyrifera population change over time.
• Informing marine spatial planning and habitat conservation efforts for the Tasmanian east coast.
• Supporting research on the relationship between kelp forests and associated fisheries.

Strengths

• Provides specific, geolocated records for four significant kelp stands from a primary survey.
• Based on first-hand field experience collected for academic research, suggesting methodological rigor.
• Cross-platform presence on a government data portal indicates recognized value and persistence.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing, including row count, column names, file size, license, and author details.
• The 'last updated' metadata field contains a future date (2026), indicating a system error or placeholder value.
• Partial survey coverage relies on anecdotal reports for unsurveyed areas, limiting completeness.

Provenance

Source

Tasmania Government's The List Data

Collection Method

Boat-based field survey and collection of anecdotal reports, conducted for a master's thesis.

Time Range

1988

Freshness

The metadata indicates a last updated date in 2026, which is inconsistent and likely erroneous; the underlying data is from 1988.

Geography

East coast of Tasmania, Australia, with specific sites named.