Australian Marine Bioregionalisation: Geomorphic Features and Biophysical Variables

Geospatial data supporting Australia's marine protected area program by mapping the seabed and bioregions. The dataset integrates existing seabed bathymetry, fish diversity information, and other biophysical variables to create a Benthic Bioregionalisation dividing Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone into 41 bioregions. It was produced by Geoscience Australia and the Australian Ocean Data Network, with a last update recorded in 2026.

Use Cases

• Predicting seabed biodiversity distribution based on integrated geomorphic and biophysical layers.
• Designing networks of representative marine protected areas based on the 41 defined bioregions.
• Analyzing relationships between biophysical variables like seabed slope, temperature, and primary production with marine habitats.

Strengths

• Derived from a Benthic Bioregionalisation that subdivides Australia's EEZ into 41 distinct bioregions, including 24 biologically unique provinces.
• Integrates multiple layers of spatial data, including seabed bathymetry, geomorphic features, fish diversity, and oceanographic variables.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the source platforms and the 2005 bioregionalisation base.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, Geoscience Australia

Collection Method

Integration of existing seabed bathymetry data, fish diversity information, and other biophysical variables to produce geomorphic feature maps and a bioregionalisation.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 05:57:29.941364; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)