Benthic Habitat Distribution in Esperance Bay, Western Australia

A study from the Recherche Archipelago in temperate southwestern Australia examines relationships between seabed geomorphology and benthic habitat distribution. The dataset, published by the Australian Ocean Data Network, integrates multibeam sonar, underwater video, predicted wave energy, and sediment data for Esperance Bay. It focuses on a shallow (<50 m), high-energy environment dominated by biogenic sediments.

Use Cases

• Modeling rhodolith and seagrass habitat distribution based on predicted wave energy data.
• Analyzing the relationship between sediment composition (gravel, mud, CaCO3 percentages) and rhodolith bed presence.
• Studying the role of limestone reefs as habitat for sessile organisms in high wave exposure environments.
• Assessing the impact of wave abrasion and sediment transport 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-defined geographic area: Esperance Bay in the Recherche Archipelago.
• Explicitly examines relationships between physical parameters (wave energy, sediment type) and biological habitats.

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 a single bay in Western Australia.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Data gathered via multibeam sonar, underwater video, and sediment sampling for a scientific study.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-19 23:16:58.042974; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Esperance Bay, part of the Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia