Quantitative abundance data for fish, megafaunal invertebrates, and algal cover from transect-based counts across Temperate Australia. The data was collected for Tasmanian Marine Protected Area planning surveys and opportunistic assessments, such as an oil spill evaluation. Methods are detailed in Edgar and Barrett (1997), with data primarily from transects at 5 m and 10 m depths, often involving temporal replication on a yearly scale.
Use Cases
- Assess biodiversity changes following marine protection based on temporal replication mentioned in the description
- Model fish and invertebrate abundance patterns across different Tasmanian sites based on transect data
- Evaluate algal cover as an indicator of reef health based on percentage cover data
- Compare ecological communities between protected and non-protected areas based on MPA survey locations
Strengths
- Data collection methods are explicitly referenced to a detailed 1997 publication (Edgar and Barrett)
- Includes temporal replication on a yearly scale at many sites
- Covers a wide range of locations across Temperate Australia, including multiple Tasmanian MPAs and planning regions
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 bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on specific Tasmanian regions
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Transect-based counts at 5 m and/or 10 m depths, following methods from Edgar and Barrett (1997).
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-13 21:12:37.285022; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Temperate Australia, with a focus on Tasmania including Maria Island, Tinderbox, Ninepin Point, Governor Island, St Helens, Waterhouse Region, Low Head, Lillico Beach, Rocky Cape, Port Davey, and the Kent Group.