Biodiversity data extraction for the Waikato area of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park

TR 2025/08

Report: TR 2025/08

Author: Matt Bennion, Carolyn Lundquist (National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd)

Biodiversity data compiled for the project titled “Recovery of biogenic habitats: assessing the recovery potential offered by spatial planning scenarios proposed in the Sea Change Plan – ZBD2020-06” has been extracted for the Waikato region of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Layers produced using species distribution modelling for the ZBD2020-06 project are included in the geodatabase created for this project. The modelled layers and methods used to produce them are briefly described herein.
Point records of species presence (and in some cases absence) are used to provide a broad overview of the biodiversity in the Waikato area of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Patterns of species assemblages are visualised and briefly discussed, and a focus is placed on the Mercury Islands group and Matarangi sub-region.
Limitations of the extracted data are discussed. Principally, these limitations include missing information (e.g., sampling gear type), year of collection and low taxonomic resolution of some of the species records. Limitations of the modelled layers are also discussed, with reference to the visual expert evaluation of the layers and the data that was used to model biogenic habitat distributions in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.