Benthic Habitats of Marra Sea Country, Gulf of Carpentaria 2021

James Cook University, Mabunji, and Charles Darwin University surveyed benthic habitats in Marra Sea Country, including the Limmen Marine Parks. The dataset comprises 4 GIS shapefiles describing seagrass presence, species composition, algae cover, and benthic macro-invertebrate cover at 2018 shallow-water and 54 deep-water sites, plus attributes of 69 seagrass meadows and interpolated biomass. The full report was published in 2022.

Use Cases

• Map seagrass meadow distribution and biomass based on the interpolation shapefile.
• Analyze species composition and cover of seagrass and algae based on site-level survey data.
• Assess benthic macro-invertebrate communities in shallow and deep-water habitats.
• Support marine park co-management and habitat monitoring as referenced in the Marra Healthy Country Plan.

Strengths

• Includes data from 2018 shallow-water sites and 54 deep-water sites, providing broad spatial coverage.
• Describes attributes for 69 distinct seagrass meadows.
• Integrates multiple data sources including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and field surveys.

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 bias inherent to the specific survey region in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, aggregating data from James Cook University (JCU), Mabunji, and Charles Darwin University (CDU).

Collection Method

Surveys conducted by small vessel, helicopter, benthic towed camera, and sled net; data processed in ArcGIS 10.8 using satellite imagery and aerial photographs.

Time Range

Surveys conducted in 2021, with report published in 2022.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 16:06:01.916377; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Marra Sea Country, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory, Australia, including the Limmen Marine Park and Limmen Bight Marine Park.