Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00324:front:0:p85
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00324
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 241566–244631

regional communities and the prosperity of the nation.

Figure S2.9 West Cape York Marine Park
Schedule 3 Environmental features used in the design of the North Network
Four types of environmental features were used in the design of the marine parks of the North Network to help identify areas for protection. These features were identified based on the scientifically known relationships between biodiversity and the physical environment and include provincial bioregions, water depth, seafloor features, and key ecological features. They are identified below.
More information on these features can be found in the Marine bioregional plan for the North Marine Region (2012), the North marine bioregional plan: bioregional profile (2008), and the conservation values atlas on the Department's website.
Bioregions
Bioregions are identified in the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA) as large areas of ocean with broadly similar characteristics that have been classified by scientists based on the distribution of fish and other marine species, seafloor types and ocean conditions. The North Network represents all four of the bioregions found in the region: Northwest Shelf Transition; Timor Transition; Northern Shelf Province; and Northeast Shelf Transition (Figure S3.1).
Depth ranges
The North Network represents the full range of depths found in the region, from shallow waters of less than 15 m to deeper waters of 350 m water depth. Marine biological communities change with depth, and similar depth ranges in different bioregions support different groups of species. The range of ocean depths in each bioregion, represented as bathomes in Figure S3.2, have been included in the Network to ensure that examples of marine biodiversity are represented.
Seafloor features
The landscape-scale physical structure of the seafloor is important in determining where habitats or species occur. There is strong scientific evidence that different types of seafloor features provide different habitats and associated marine species and communities. The Network represents all 15 of the seafloor features found in the region—apron/fan, bank/shoal, basin, canyon, deep/hole/valley, pinnacle, plateau, reef, ridge, saddle, shelf, sill, slope, terrace, tidal sand wave/sand bank (Figure S3.3).
Key ecological features
Key ecological features were identified through the marine bioregional planning program as areas or features that support distinct or important ecological communities at a regional scale. The North Network represents nine key ecological features including all eight key ecological features found in the region—carbonate bank and terrace system of the Van Diemen Rise, Gulf of Carpentaria basin, Gulf of Carpentaria coastal zone, pinnacles of the Bonaparte Basin, plateaux and saddle north-west of the Wellesley Islands, shelf break and slope of the Arafura shelf, submerged coral reefs of the Gulf of Carpentaria, tributary canyons of the Arafura Depression—and the carbonate bank and terrace system of the Sahul Shelf of the