A 2013 study from the Great Barrier Reef continental shelf quantified the extent of deep coral reef habitats. The dataset shows that 61% of seabed on submerged banks (25,600 km²) is submerged at a mean depth of around 27 meters, representing potential deep reef habitat. Predictive modelling indicates more than half of this area (around 14,000 km²) is suitable for coral communities.
Use Cases
- Modeling coral reef biodiversity resilience based on deep habitat extent
- Planning marine conservation strategies based on spatial distribution of submerged banks
- Analyzing the relationship between near-sea-surface and deep reef habitats based on latitudinal distribution
- Predicting suitable coral community habitats based on seabed depth and bank area
Strengths
- Provides specific area measurements: 25,600 km² of submerged bank area and 16,110 km² of near-sea-surface reef area
- Includes a predictive habitat model result indicating around 14,000 km² is suitable for coral
- Covers the entire Great Barrier Reef continental shelf with latitudinal distribution data
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
- Last updated 2026-05-05 04:42:00.295911; freshness should be verified
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Likely derived from seabed mapping and predictive habitat modelling.
- Geography
- Great Barrier Reef, Australia