Spatially-Balanced Survey Designs Incorporating Legacy Sites for Marine Biodiversity

A 2017 methodology for integrating existing monitoring sites into new ecological surveys to improve spatial balance and reduce uncertainty. The method, developed by Foster et al., is illustrated using a proposed survey of a large marine reserve in South-Eastern Australia. An R package called MBHdesign is available to implement the described methods.

Use Cases

• Designing efficient ecological monitoring programs based on the described method for integrating legacy sites.
• Reducing uncertainty in population estimates based on the simulation results showing smaller standard errors.
• Enhancing temporal variability analysis based on the benefit of return visits to legacy sites.
• Aiding integrated monitoring programs based on the tool's ability to provide efficient survey designs around established ones.

Strengths

• Method is formally described and peer-reviewed in a 2017 journal article (Methods in Ecology and Evolution).
• An R package (MBHdesign) is available for practical implementation.
• The approach is illustrated with a concrete example survey of a marine reserve in South-Eastern Australia.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (data.gov.au), citing Foster et al. (2017).

Collection Method

A proposed methodological approach for survey design, illustrated with a simulation and case study.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 23:59:11.217475; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Illustrated with a marine reserve in South-Eastern Australia.