Between 2009 and 2012, four marine surveys collected 2,561 individual polychaetes from 266 sediment samples in the Oceanic Shoals Australian Marine Park. The inventory, published in 2019 by researchers including Rachel Przeslawski, identified 368 species and 43 families, including new records for Australia. The data provides baseline biodiversity information to examine community variation, environmental drivers, and functional group patterns for marine management.
Use Cases
- Analyze polychaete community structure variation among surveys based on the species-level inventory.
- Model relationships between polychaete assemblages and environmental variables or geomorphology.
- Compare ecological patterns at different taxonomic resolutions (species vs. family) and functional groups (feeding, habitat, mobility).
- Establish biodiversity baselines for monitoring programs in marine protected areas.
Strengths
- Inventory includes 2,561 individual specimens from 266 samples, providing a substantial count of observations.
- Species-level identification resulted in 368 species and 43 families, including new species, genera, and family records for Australia.
- Data collection spanned four surveys over a multi-year period (2009-2012), allowing for temporal analysis.
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/temporal bias inherent to data_gov_au.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Sediment samples were elutriated (500 μm) to separate macrofauna from four marine surveys.
- Time Range
- 2009 to 2012
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-04 07:56:03.427608; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Oceanic Shoals Australian Marine Park, northern Australia