Download AEBR 310 Characterising the shallow, soft-seafloor biomes of northern New Zealand’s Bay of Islands

Low-relief red-algae turf extends over about 40% of sandy seafloors of ‘Ipipiri Platform’ in eastern Bay of Islands, its spatial extent apparently steady over recent decades. In contrast, the extent of the subtidal seagrass (presently about 5%) has apparently varied substantially. Subtidal seagrass is rare today, and the algal-turf biome is undescribed elsewhere. These bottom-stabilising vegetative biomes are probably the long-term surficial ecological communities of recent geological times.