Seabed habitat maps

The files contain maps and ArcGIS shapefiles of the seabed habitats and biotopes at the Cape Rodney – Okakari Point Marine Reserve (also called Goat Island) adjacent to Leigh Marine Laboratory, North Island, New Zealand. There are two maps: The first was digitized from a map published by Ayling, A.M., Cumming, A., Ballantine, W.J. (1981). Map of shore and sub-tidal habitats of the Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve, North Island, New Zealand in 3 sheets, scale 1:2000. Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, New Zealand. The second was remapped in 2006. A full description of the 2006 methods and comparison of both maps is available in Leleu K, Remy-Zephir B., Grace R., Costello M.J. 2012. Mapping habitats in a marine reserve showed how a 30-year trophic cascade altered ecosystem structure. Biological Conservation , in press. The maps were created to quantify the area of seabed habitats and biotopes in the reserve and adjacent areas in each map.