Habitat Map for Lizard Island reef, Australia derived from a photo-transect survey field data collected in December 2011 and September/October 2012

An object based image analysis approach (OBIA) was used to create a habitat map of Lizard Island reef, Queensland. Georeferenced dive and snorkel photo-transect surveys were conducted at different locations surrounding Lizard Island. Dominant benthic or substrate cover type was assigned to each photo by placing 24 points random over each image. Each point was then assigned a dominant cover type using a benthic cover type classification scheme containing nine first-level categories - seagrass high (>=70%), seagrass moderate (40-70%), seagrass low (<= 30%), coral, reef matrix, algae, rubble, rock and sand. The OBIA class assignment followed a hierarchical assignment based on membership rules with levels for "reef", "geomorphic zone" and "benthic community" (above). This record contains a snapshot of the data taken for use in Seamap Australia (a national benthic habitat map; https://seamapaustralia.org). View the original record at: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.864209