Benthic Habitat Distribution in Esperance Bay

Esperance Bay's shallow seabed habitats are shaped by wave energy, which determines the distribution of unconsolidated substrate and predicts rhodolith and seagrass locations. This dataset integrates multibeam sonar, underwater video, predicted wave energy, and sediment data from the Recherche Archipelago. Its findings highlight wave abrasion and sediment transport as key drivers of inner-shelf habitat diversity.

Use Cases

• Predicting rhodolith bed distribution based on sediment gravel, mud, and CaCO3 percentages.
• Mapping benthic habitat suitability for seagrass using regional-scale wave energy exposure.
• Assessing the role of limestone reefs as habitat for sessile organisms in high-energy environments.
• Modeling the influence of geomorphic processes on inner-shelf benthic habitat diversity.

Strengths

• Integrates multiple data sources: multibeam sonar, underwater video, predicted wave energy, and sediment data.
• Focuses on a specific, well-studied high-energy environment in temperate southwestern Australia.
• Findings are derived from a published scientific study, suggesting peer-reviewed methodology.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing: column names, row count, file size, license, and author are all listed as unknown or null.
• The dataset's availability and specific file formats beyond HTML are unclear from the provided metadata.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-05-31 and 2026-05-19) suggest potential metadata inconsistencies.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field study using multibeam sonar, underwater video, and sediment sampling.

Freshness

2026-05-31

Geography

Esperance Bay, Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia (shallow waters <50m depth)