This data is from the 2021 'Seeds for Snapper' season which is a community volunteer seed based seagrass restoration program located in Perth, Western Australia. It details the effort that went into the collection of Posidonia australis seagrass fruit including number of divers, number of shore support personnel, volunteered hours, and fruit collection metrics (volume, estimated number).

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Mapping critical Australian sea lion habitat to assess ecological value and risks to population recovery". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Populations of the endangered Australian sea lion have declined by >60% over the last 40 years. There is a marked uneven distribution in abundance and trends across the species range, suggesting that localised risk profiles from threats vary at small spatial scales. Fine scale differences in habitat use are thought to underpin these differences, yet knowledge about the species dependency on key habitats and their vulnerability to human impacts is limited. This project deployed underwater cameras onto sea lions to identify and map their critical habitats, assess their ecological value and identify risks to populations. Tagging took place at three sea lion colonies adjacent to Commonwealth and state marine reserves off South Australia including Olive and Pearson Islands (Western Eyre Marine Park) and Seal Bay (Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park). Results from this study improve our understanding of threats to sea lion populations and support future conservation actions to recover the species. Outputs • Tracking data from sea lion-deployed tags: location, depth, time, temperature, light, acceleration [dataset] • Timestamped video footage from sea lion-deployed cameras [dataset] • Final project report [written]

In March 2020, The University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Malgana Rangers transplanted by hand 36 pieces of Posidonia australis and Amphibolis antarctica into nearby restoration plots at Dubaut Point, Shark Bay. In March 2022 UWA went back to assess survival and shoot growth which is detailed in this dataset.

The Seamap Australia National Benthic Habitat Layer (NBHL) is a compilation of benthic habitat datasets obtained from various sectors including research, government, industry and community sources, across Australia. Disparate datasets are integrated into a single national-scale benthic habitat database, and classified uniformly under a national classification scheme implemented as a controlled vocabulary (https://vocabs.ardc.edu.au/viewById/129). For acceptance into the 'formal' (validated_ Seamap Australia NBHL (see https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/4739e4b0-4dba-4ec5-b658-02c09f27ab9a), source habitat datasets must meet a set of Acceptance Criteria (documented in https://seamapaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SeamapAustraliaDataAcceptanceGuidelines.pdf). Broadly speaking, for inclusion in the Seamap Australia NBHL, datasets must: (1) be well-described by metadata or associated documentation; (2) employ a single, consistent classification scheme which avoids non-deterministic or ambiguous terms; (3) bequality-controlled by the provider prior to contribution; (4) beacquired using an established and community-endorsed form of data collection (eg satellite, aerial or acoustic remote sensing); and (5) have documented evidence of ground-truthing validation at the time of data collection (e.g. drop camera, towed video, benthic grabs). This record describes habitat datasets that meet Acceptance Criteria 1-4, but *have not* been validated/ground-truthed and are therefore ineligible for inclusion in the formal Seamap Australia NBHL. They have been synthesised and uniformly classified using an identical methodology to the NBHL, but represent an intermediate collection of habitat datasets that would benefit from field ground-truthing in order to validate the habitat classifications. The Seamap Australia synthesis of unvalidated habitat datasets can be viewed, analysed and downloaded from the Seamap Australia data portal (https://seamapaustralia.org/map). This dataset should be considered a “live” asset and will continue to develop as more unvalidated habitat datasets are collected or made available. The most current (2024) version of the data is available from the following endpoints: WMS: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/seamap/wms WFS: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/seamap/wfs Layer name: SeamapAus_NBHL_unvalidated Various download options are supplied in the “Online resources” section of this record.

The Maugean Skate Zearaja maugeana is a micro-endemic species known from only two isolated estuaries, Bathurst and Macquarie Harbours in southwestern/western Tasmania. This constitutes one of the most limited distributions of any known extant elasmobranch. As a result, the species is listed as ‘Endangered’ under the Threatened Species Protection Act (Tasmania) and the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (Commonwealth). Even though it was first discovered in Bathurst Harbour, most of what is known about the species comes from the Macquarie Harbour population. Only four individuals have ever been reported in Bathurst Harbour, with the last known sighting occurring in 1992. This study used environmental DNA (eDNA) to determine the presence/absence of the Maugean skate in Bathurst Harbour on the southwest coast of Tasmania. Water samples were collected from the seafloor in Bathurst Harbour in November 2021 and February 2022, and in Macquarie Harbour (control samples) in December 2021. Samples were filtered using a self-preserving eDNA sampling system. Following each survey DNA from the samples was extracted and analysed through qPCR amplification. Mitochondrial primer pairs from two gene regions were used to detect the presence of Maugean skate DNA in the samples. Where possible, positive detections were sequenced, and their identity verified.

The Seamap Australia National Benthic Habitat Layer (NBHL) is a compilation of benthic habitat datasets obtained from various sectors including research, government, industry and community sources, across Australia. These disparate datasets have been integrated into a single national-scale benthic habitat database, and classified uniformly under a national classification scheme implemented as a controlled vocabulary (https://vocabs.ardc.edu.au/viewById/129). Creation of this classification scheme complements work undertaken by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub (Theme D). For acceptance into the Seamap Australia NBHL, source habitat datasets must meet a set of Acceptance Criteria (documented in https://seamapaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SeamapAustraliaDataAcceptanceGuidelines.pdf). Broadly speaking, for inclusion in the Seamap Australia NBHL, datasets must: (1) be well-described by metadata or associated documentation; (2) employ a single, consistent classification scheme which avoids non-deterministic or ambiguous terms; (3) bequality-controlled by the provider prior to contribution; (4) beacquired using an established and community-endorsed form of data collection (eg satellite, aerial or acoustic remote sensing); and (5) have documented evidence of ground-truthing validation at the time of data collection (e.g. drop camera, towed video, benthic grabs). The Seamap Australia NBHL can be viewed, analysed and downloaded from the Seamap Australia data portal (https://seamapaustralia.org/map) – a national repository of seafloor habitat data and a decision support tool for marine managers. All habitat datasets in the Seamap Australia data portal, including the NBHL and all local- to regional-scale contributing datasets, are available for download. The Seamap Australia NBHL is a data collection of national importance and highlights the diversity of benthic habitats across Australia’s marine estate. This is the first Australian habitat dataset that seamlessly consolidates data from each of Australia’s state and territory providers. This dataset should be considered a “live” asset and will continue to develop as more suitable validated habitat data becomes available for inclusion, and improvements in data collection and analysis techniques enhance its resolution and currency. The most current (2025) version of the data is available from the following endpoints: WMS: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/seamap/wms WFS: https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/seamap/wfs Layer name: SeamapAus_National_Benthic_Habitat_Layer A download link for the full dataset is supplied in the “Online resources” section of this record, along with download links to older versions of the dataset. Note that data is now only available in Geodatabase (.gdb) format as it exceeds Shapefile size limits.