Przeslawski et al. (2015) compiled a species-level inventory from three marine surveys in the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve. The dataset includes approximately 750 sponge specimens assigned to 348 species, with only 18% being taxonomically described species. It was used to analyze biodiversity patterns in relation to geomorphic features and environmental variables like depth, substrate hardness, and slope.
Use Cases
- Modeling relationships between sponge assemblages and environmental variables like depth and substrate hardness.
- Assessing biodiversity hotspots associated with raised geomorphic features such as carbonate banks.
- Comparing community structure differences between biogeographic regions (east vs. west).
- Informing spatial management strategies for marine reserves based on species richness and assemblage data.
Strengths
- Includes approximately 750 collected specimens, providing a substantial sample size.
- Species-level inventory with 348 identified species.
- Explicitly links findings to management questions for a specific marine reserve.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Compiled from three marine surveys to the Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-10 17:44:48.428123; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Oceanic Shoals Commonwealth Marine Reserve (CMR) in northern Australia, specifically the Sahul Shelf and Van Diemen Rise.