Reefs on the Australian Continental Shelf: National Habitat Map

A national habitat map of rocky reefs on the Australian continental shelf, collated from multiple government and industry mapping datasets. The project, NESP MBH Project D3, aimed to provide an updated map of this key habitat and develop a geomorphological classification system. The data product is published by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Assessing fishing pressure and habitat productivity based on the described high productivity of rocky reefs relative to sandy seabed.
• Marine spatial planning and conservation area design based on the updated national map of reef habitats.
• Developing and testing biological applicability of a geomorphological classification system for cross-shelf habitats.
• Analyzing the extent and nature of reef systems beyond their known value to the fishing industry.

Strengths

• Data is a national-scale collation from multiple known mapping sources, including government and industry.
• Includes a developing geomorphological classification system intended for national adoption and biological testing.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified as the last update is listed as 2026-07-22.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Collation of all known mapping data from government and industry, including data from CERF and NERP Hubs.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-22 02:13:18.302011

Geography

Australian continental shelf