From Geoscience Australia
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Application of biophysical information to support Australia's representative marine protected area program

Created 07/03/2026

Updated 07/03/2026

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In order to protect the biological diversity of marine life in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the commonwealth government has passed the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. The Act is being implemented through preparation of regional marine plans (commenced in 2001) and by designing networks of representative marine protected areas (MPAs) in both commonwealth and state waters. In the absence of direct information about the distribution of seabed biodiversity, appropriate surrogates must be used instead. A major constraint is the short time-frame available to managers to make decisions; only information that is readily accessible and available can be used under these circumstances. Existing seabed bathymetry data were used to produce a geomorphic features map of the Australian EEZ. This map was used in conjunction with existing fish diversity information and other data to derive a Benthic Bioregionalisation (2005) that subdivides Australia's EEZ into 41 bioregions including 24 biologically unique provinces. Biophysical variables measured at broad spatial scales apart from bathymetry (and derived variables such as seabed slope) include ocean primary production, seabed sediment properties, temperature and sediment mobilisation due to waves and tides. To better characterise habitats on the Australian continental margin, Geoscience Australia has created 'seascape' maps that integrate multiple layers of spatial data that are useful for the prediction of the distribution of biodiversity.

Existing seabed bathymetry data were used to produce a geomorphic features map of the Australian EEZ. This map was used in conjunction with existing fish diversity information and other data to derive a Benthic Bioregionalisation (2005) that subdivides Australia's EEZ into 41 bioregions including 24 biologically unique provinces.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Application of biophysical information to support Australia's representative marine protected area program
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/508674af-8038-46bf-9fa2-7903e172a394
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        110.0,
        -40.0
      ],
      [
        135.0,
        -40.0
      ],
      [
        135.0,
        -30.0
      ],
      [
        110.0,
        -30.0
      ],
      [
        110.0,
        -40.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Application of biophysical information to support Australia's representative marine protected area program". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/application-of-biophysical-information-to-support-australias-representative-marine-protected-ar7