Mapping and Characterisation of Key Biotic and Physical Attributes of the Torres Strait Ecosystem (Epibenthic Sled)

The benthic invertebrate, plant and fish biodiversity of the 50,000 km² area of the Torres Strait Protected Zone and adjacent shelf seabed was sampled by a 200 m tow of a 1.5 m epibenthic sled at 166 sites, representing a wide range of known physical environments, during one 1-month-long voyage on the James Cook University vessel James Kirby. More than 1,550 species/species-equivalent OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified. The dataset comprises 8,569 site-by-species records. A pipe-dredge was attached to the sled to collect sediment samples: a 500 ml subsample was processed for particle size and carbonate by Geoscience Australia; another 500 ml subsample was sieved on 1 mm mesh and preserved in 10% Formalin - Rose Bengal solution.

本数据集针对托雷斯海峡保护区（Torres Strait Protected Zone）及相邻陆架海底共计50000平方千米的海域，开展了底栖无脊椎动物、植物与鱼类的生物多样性调查。本次调查由詹姆斯·库克大学（James Cook University）科考船"詹姆斯·柯比号"（James Kirby）在为期1个月的航次中完成，于166个站位使用1.5米宽的底栖生物拖网（epibenthic sled）进行200米拖曳采样，站位覆盖了多种已知的物理环境类型。本次调查共鉴定出超过1550个物种/物种等效操作分类单元（operational taxonomic units, OTUs）。本数据集共包含8569条站位-物种记录。拖网附带了管道式挖泥装置以采集沉积物样本：其中一份500毫升的子样本由澳大利亚地质调查局（Geoscience Australia）完成粒度与碳酸盐含量分析；另一份500毫升子样本经1毫米孔径筛网筛分后，采用10%福尔马林-玫瑰孟加拉溶液进行固定保存。