High Seas Marine Protected Areas: Benthic environmental conservation priorities from a GIS analysis of global ocean biophysical data
In order to design a representative network of high seas marine protected areas (MPAs), an acceptable scheme is required to classify the benthic bioregions of the oceans. Given the lack of sufficient biological information to accomplish this task, we used a multivariate statistical method with 6 biophysical variables (depth, seabed slope, sediment thickness, primary production, bottom water dissolved oxygen and bottom temperature) to objectively classify the ocean floor into 11 different categories, comprised of 53,713 separate polygons, that we have termed "seascapes". Validation of the seascape classification was carried out by comparing the seascapes with an existing map of seafloor geomorphology, and by GIS analysis of the number of separate polygons and perimeter/area ratio. We conclude that seascapes, derived using a multivariate statistical approach, are biophysically meaningful subdivisions of the ocean floor and can be expected to contain different biological associations, in as much as different geomorphological units do the same. Our study illustrates how the identification of potential sites for high seas marine protected areas can be accomplished by GIS analysis of seafloor geomorphic and seascape classification maps. Using this approach, maps of seascape and geomorphic heterogeneity were generated in which heterogeneity hot-spots identify themselves as MPA candidates. The use of computer-aided mapping tools removes subjectivity in the MPA design process and provides greater confidence to stakeholders that an unbiased result has been achieved.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Publication)
- 2009-01-01T00:00:00
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/66156
Identifier
- Codespace
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Digital Object Identifier
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Author Harris, P.T.
1 Author Whiteway, T.
2
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Owner Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Custodian Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Carroll, A.
PSCD Internal Contact
- Topic category
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- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Unknown
- Keywords
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External Publication
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Scientific Journal Paper
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- Theme
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bathymetry
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- Theme
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geomorphology
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- Theme
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habitat
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- Theme
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marine park
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- Theme
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marine
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- Keywords
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AU-EEZ
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- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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Earth Sciences
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- Keywords
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
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CC-BY
- Edition
-
4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- License
Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- OnLine resource
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Link to Publication
Link to Publication
Resource lineage
- Statement
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Unknown
- Hierarchy level
- Non geographic dataset
- Other
-
External Publication
- Description
-
Source data not available.
Metadata constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
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urn:uuid/a05f7892-d3fb-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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nonGeographicDataset
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/66156
- Date info (Revision)
- 2018-04-22T08:22:04
- Date info (Creation)
- 2008-06-13T00:00:00
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551