Habitats and benthos at Hydrographers Passage, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Beaman, Robin J., Bridge, Thomas, Done, Terry, Webster, Jody M., Williams, Stefan, and Pizarro, Oscar (2012) Habitats and benthos at Hydrographers Passage, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. In: Harris, Peter T., and Baker, Elaine K., (eds.) Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat: GeoHab atlas of seafloor geomorphic features and benthic habitats. Elsevier, London, England, pp. 425-434.

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Abstract

Hydrographers Passage lies on the shelf-edge of the central Great Barrier Reef in north-eastern Australia. The survey location is approximately 800 km2 in area and ranges in depth from 14 m to 300 m. The mapped geomorphic features (>1 km) include a broader-scale slope, terrace and platform, with smaller reefs and dune features. Sediment grabs from two cross-shelf transects show a generally similar composition of poorly-sorted, muddy sand and iron stained carbonate gravel. In contrast, dune sediments are a well-sorted sand with no iron staining. Images from two AUV transects provide the data for a hierarchical clustering of substrate types into five substrate groups: sand, gravel, rubble, sediment-covered limestone; and reef. The AUV imagery reveals a clear distinction between the benthos associated with hard substrates and soft substrate habitats at a finer-scale than can be shown within the broader-scale geomorphic features. Maximum entropy modelling is used to generate a habitat preference map for azooxanthellate, filter-feeding octocorals.

Item ID: 19343
Item Type: Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN: 978-0-12-385140-6
Keywords: mesophotic, coral reefs, substrate preferences, autonomous underwater vehicle, vertical zonation, community composition
Date Deposited: 22 Dec 2011 05:01
FoR Codes: 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0403 Geology > 040305 Marine Geoscience @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960808 Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 100%
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