Inner shelf habitat surrounding the Kapiti Marine Reserve, New Zealand

CHAPTER 22

Inner shelf habitat surrounding the Kapiti Marine Reserve, New Zealand Geoffroy Lamarche1,2, Alix Laferriere3, Shane Geange4, Jonathan Gardner5 and Arne Pallentin1 1

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Wellington, New Zealand School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand 3Blackfoot Research LLC, Kittery, ME, United States 4Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand 5School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

2

Abstract Identifying the geomorphology and biogenic habitats of an area are essential to understanding the processes influencing species’ distributions, ecological interactions, and managing the marine environment. We mapped the seafloor around Kapiti Marine Reserve, New Zealand, using a 30 kHz multibeam echosounder, to produce highly detailed bathymetric and backscatter maps of the marine reserve and surrounding area. We used these data and morphometric derivatives to generate a 14-class Benthic Terrain Model (BTM). We combined the BTM with the backscatter facies to create 18 sampling zones; these were used to inform the spatial distribution of sampling for ground truthing and to define biogenic habitats. Ground truthing included 214 camera drops, 12 sled tows, and 46 dives. We present here the compilation of ground truthing and multibeam data to reveal the diversity of physical and biogenic habitats that comprise the submarine landscape surrounding Kapiti Island, which include soft sediments with associated infaunal communities, large areas of rock rubble and gravels with mobile invertebrates, extensive anemone and rhodolith beds, boulder fields with dense macroalgal stands, flat and complex rocky reefs encrusted with a diversity of macroinvertebrates and macroalgae. This multidisciplinary and scalar approach supports a greater ability to effectively manage the area and promote awareness of the richness, diversity, and complexity of the seafloor and the biota it supports of the Kapiti Island region.

Keywords: Multibeam bathymetry; Benthic Terrain Model; Marine protected area; backscatter; biogenic habitat; macroalgal forests; rhodoliths; ground truthing; sensitive marine habitats

Introduction Background and oceanography Kapiti Island is 9.5 km long and 2 km wide, located 5 km offshore of the west coast of the lower North Island/Te Ika-a-M¯aui, New Zealand (Fig. 22.1). Kapiti is one of New Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814960-7.00022-1 © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

403

Figure 22.1 Kapiti Island and the surrounding seafloor bathymetry. Dashed white lines are Kapiti Marine Reserve boundaries; grey line is boundary of area mapped using high-resolution multibeam echosounder for this study. Boxes (numbered 1 and 2) show locations of panels in Fig. 22.2. Inset shows the location of Kapiti Island along the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand; WB: Wanganui Basin; MS: Marlborough Sounds. The subduction front is indicated in red.

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 405 Zealand’s most important small islands of ecological and economic interest, as it hosts an ecologically significant nature reserve that is juxtaposed by an equally important marine reserve. The nature reserve was established in 1975 and is now one of New Zealand’s most important sites for recovery of endemic bird species. In 1992 the Kapiti Marine Reserve was established as a full no-take marine reserve to protect nationally significant ecological communities and their associated recreational and educational values. Kapiti Marine Reserve connects Kapiti Island Nature Reserve and the Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve, forming a rare continuum of protected land, sea, and estuarine habitats in New Zealand. The marine reserve includes separate eastern (1825 ha) and western (342 ha) areas. While there is some information about substratum type at some sites inside and outside the marine reserve, little work has been conducted to examine the underlying geology and biophysical habitats around Kapiti Island. The oceanography around Kapiti Island is influenced by its location to the north of Cook Strait/Te Moana-a-Raukawa and the convergence of the cold, clear Southland Current with the warm, turbid, and saltier d’Urville Current (Eddy et al., 2014). The western side of Kapiti Island is exposed to the prevailing northwestern winds, swells, and storm surge, with strong currents off the headlands. On the eastern side strong tidal flows occur around the island’s NE tip and south of Rangatira Point, with rates exceeding 10 knots during outgoing spring tides (Rippon, 1970). The strong currents have generated considerable sand scours along the eastern side. Baxter (1987) recognized three reef zones, generally related to seafloor topography, which influence species composition: an exposed western reef zone with strong currents off the headland; a partly exposed northern boulder zone with strong currents; and a sheltered eastern reef with strong currents offshore. This convergence results in a distinct flora and fauna that includes a mix of northern and southern New Zealand species. Rauoterangi Channel between Kapiti Island and the mainland is 70 m deep at its deepest and experiences strong currents. It has been, until the turn of the 20th century, a well-known passage for whale migrations (Cherfas, 1989; Ell, 1995). The immediate surroundings of the island encompass a dynamic and rugose seafloor that provides habitat for a diverse and abundant group of finfish and iconic macroinvertebrates such as paua (Haliotis spp.), kina (Evechinus chloroticus), and rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii).

Geomorphic feature types Tectonically Kapiti Island is located at the western boundary of the deformation zone associated with the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate, c.250 km to the east along the Hikurangi Margin. The island is surrounded by a series of NE SW trending active geological faults that together form the Kapiti-Manawatu Fault System and enabled its

406 Chapter 22 uplift (Lamarche et al., 2005). The island is bounded to the west and east by faults capable of generating earthquakes with magnitudes greater than Mw7.0 (Nodder et al., 2007). The surficial sediments surrounding Kapiti Island and over the coastal plain on the mainland are derived primarily from erosion of the axial ranges that run along the length of the North Island and transported by rivers into the Wanganui Basin. Offshore, Kapiti Island is located to the southeast of the large, 4 km deep, Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary Wanganui Basin (Proust et al., 2005) and at the northern entrance of Cook Strait, a major seaway between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Cook Strait plays a critical role in sediment transport, currents, and marine mammal passage. Beneath the sediments, the geological basement consists of metamorphosed rocks, called greywacke, analogous to those outcropping widely along the North Island axial ranges and in the Marlborough Sounds. The geomorphology of the basement is that of NE SW trending incised valleys and greywacke ridges which emerge in the Marlborough Sounds and indeed at Kapiti Island itself but are mostly buried beneath the thick sedimentary cover of the Wanganui Basin. Shallow rocky reefs of similar origin are located on the seafloor to the south and southeast of the island and are important habitat such as the Tarapunga Shoals (Fig. 22.2). On the mainland, a coastal plain dominates between the axial ranges and a transgressive dune field along the coast, with few estuaries. The geomorphology of the region demonstrates the strong influence of sea level fluctuations during the last full glacial cycle on the present-day seafloor topography (Clement et al., 2010).

Naturalness, condition, and trend Building on earlier surveys of the marine environment surrounding Kapiti Island conducted by Baxter (1987), Battershill et al. (1993) carried out a “baseline survey” at the time the Kapiti Marine Reserve was established. This baseline survey included a description of the presence and distribution of key habitat-forming species [e.g., the macroalgae Ecklonia radiata, Macrophyllum maschalocarpum, M. flexuosum; as well as rhodolith (calcareous red algae) and zoanthid beds], their associations with different substrata, and topographic profiles. While neither Baxter (1987) nor Battershill et al. (1993) report its presence, protected black corals [Antipathella (Anthipathes) fiordensis] have been observed in the vicinity of the Kapiti Marine Reserve, although exact locational records are missing. Surveys since the establishment of the reserve have mainly focused on the biological responses to protection by paua, kina, rock lobsters, finfish, and associated kelp habitats (Pande and Gardner, 2012; Eddy et al., 2014). Assessments of naturalness, condition, and trend of biophysical habitats are based on expert judgement only, due to a lack of quantitative data. Compared to the surveys conducted by Baxter (1987) and Battershill et al. (1993), the naturalness and condition of the biophysical

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 407

Figure 22.2 Rocky beach boulders and small-scale sand-waves generated by waves and strong tidal currents (1—top panel; grid cell is 25 cm) and the flat rocky platform of Tarapunga Shoals generated by the erosional power of waves and tidal currents (2—bottom panel; grid cells are depth dependent and range 25 cm to 1.5 m). Numbers refer to locations on Fig. 22.1.

408 Chapter 22 habitats, without considering the emergent properties of the habitats (e.g., an emergent property of algal habitats is that they typically have higher fish diversity than adjacent soft sediment habitats), are good. Within the reserve, populations of habitat-dependent species show no substantial negative effects to the small alterations in habitat condition that are thought to have occurred since the 1980s.

General information on data reported in the case study This study is based on a bathymetric survey undertaken in mid-2015, using a 30 kHz Kongsberg EM2040 multibeam echosounder (MBES) onboard NIWA’s research vessel RV Ikatere. The data forms the basis of a geomorphometric and habitat mapping study, parts of which are still underway. The EM2040 MBES settings were optimized for the expected water depths in the survey area, and to maximize swath coverage to ensure accuracy and efficiency. The MBES was used with its standard frequency of 300 kHz in dual-swath mode. The angular coverage was set to the maximum of 70 /70 , giving seafloor coverage of up to five times the water depth. Line spacing was planned to generate around 20% overlap between adjoining swaths to maintain a high level of confidence in the bathymetric data. MBES seafloor bathymetry and backscatter, along with water column data, were recorded concurrently. It took 12 days of surveying to map the main region of interest. Mapping was constrained by the ability of the vessel to operate in shallow water or around rocks, and consequently limited to water depth greater than 5 m. This resulted in an area adjacent to shore for which there was no MBES data. In total 667 line-km of MBES data were recorded, covering an area of 96.8 km2 (Fig. 22.1). To achieve complete coverage of bathymetry data around the island, the multibeam dataset was augmented by satellite-derived bathymetry for the area between the land and the mapped region. The bathymetry data were gridded at 50 cm for water depths down to 40 m and 1 m for the deeper region. Backscatter data were collected at the same time as the bathymetry data. The backscatter data provide high-level information on bottom types and a means to derive information on habitats. The backscatter data were gridded using a 50-cm grid cell size, which allows resolving meter-scale features. We use the backscatter data (Fig. 22.3) as an indicator of seafloor substratum and microtopography (Lamarche et al., 2016), as it relates to grain size and sediment volume scattering. Backscatter data were processed using the Fledermaus Geocoder toolkit, which is designed to visualize and analyze backscatter data from multibeam systems. Backscatter processing accounts for the effects of recording equipment, seafloor topography, and water column, and includes signal calibration, compensation, and speckle noise filtering. Processed backscatter data can reveal the presence of biophysical habitats (e.g., Brown et al., 2011; McGonigle et al., 2014). The bathymetric data were processed with the CARIS suite using a standard processing workflow for the generation of the final data

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 409

Figure 22.3 Backscatter imagery of the area surrounding Kapiti Island. Rough rocky outcrops are highly reflective and appear as light grey, sediments on the flat seafloor are less reflective and appear as dark grey. Grid cell is 50 cm. Inserts: (1) sand waves merge into rocky reef to the right and into deep fine sediments to the left; (2) and rocky reef habitat extending out from Tokahaki Point.

410 Chapter 22 surfaces. The processed data were gridded at 1 m grid cell size for all water depths. Resulting density of soundings per cell in the shallower areas are in the thousands, reducing to one sounding per grid cell in the deeper parts ( . 60 m) of the survey area. System accuracies and survey conditions met the Land Information New Zealand LINZ MB-1 standards. The processed data were subsequently used to generate Benthic Terrain Models (BTM) using the methodology developed by Wright et al. (2012) and implemented by Walbridge et al. (2018). The method uses the ArcGIS software and toolbox to build a BTM. BTMs provide simple, but measurable, repetitive and systematic characterization of the geomorphology at a selected scale. We used the Benthic Terrain Modeler tool of the ArcGIS software to generate 14 benthic classes (Fig. 22.4 and Table 22.1) which, when combined with four backscatter facies interpreted from the backscatter map (Fig. 22.2), allowed us to create 18 “sampling zones” (Table 22.2); these were used to inform the spatial distribution of sampling for ground truthing and to identify biogenic habitats (Fig. 22.5). Sampling locations were randomly assigned within each “sampling zone”. Video and seafloor images from 214 camera drops, video from 12 sled tows, and observations and still photographs from 46 dives were collected to ground truth the backscatter data. The sampling method used at each location was determined by environmental conditions (e.g., depth, current, visibility, swell).

Geomorphic features and habitat classes Kapiti Island culminates at 521 m above sea level at Tuteremoana. The island has an extremely steep and linear west flank of tectonic origin. To the east the slope is gentler and leads down to the Rauoterangi Channel, between the island and the mainland, where a maximum depth of 70 m occurs to the south and 60 m at its narrowest, and where the mainland displays a cuspate foreland. To the southwest the water depth drops to 100 m within less than a kilometer of the coast. The southern half of the western side of the Rauoterangi Channel is dominated by a rocky reef that extends from the island, from which three small islands emerge. The northern half of the western side of Rauoterangi Channel has a steeper slope leading to deeper water and soft sediment habitats. We use the following geomorphometric parameters to generate the BTM: depth of the seafloor; slope, classified according to the angle (in degrees) from the horizontal. Slope is calculated for each 1 m 3 1 m cell by comparing with a 3 3 3 cell neighborhood using a moving window; Aspect, classified as the direction of downslope dip, with north at 0 and south at 180 (aspect can also be thought of as the slope direction); Rugosity (or roughness) of the seafloor is the variation in three dimensions, and is a measure of terrain complexity. In the benthic environment, ecological diversity can be correlated with environmental complexity or seafloor rugosity (e.g., Kostylev et al., 2001; Beaman et al., 2005) to help identify areas with potentially high biodiversity (Fig. 22.4).

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 411

Figure 22.4 Eight class Benthic Terrain Model generated using ArcGIS toolbox BTM. Numbers 1 14 (in brackets) in legend are the BTM classes from Table 22.1, combined here for simplification.

412 Chapter 22 Table 22.1: The 14 geomorphic habitat zones, derived from the Benthic Terrain Model, and their coverage expressed as km2 and percent of the study area (with and without the flats zone included). Descriptor

Area (km2)

Percent with (withouta) flats

Flats Broad slopes Depressions Flat tops Ridges, boulders, pinnacles Ridges, boulders, pinnacles Ridges, boulders, pinnacles Depressions Steep slopes, scarp, cliff Depression, scours Steep slopes, scarp, cliff Crevices, narrow gullies over elevated terrain Ridges, boulders, pinnacles Depression, scours

77.5 9.1

80% (0%) 9.40% (47.30%)

3.96 1.12 0.07 0.19 0.07 0.17 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.01

4.10% (20.50%) 1.16% (5.80%) 0.07% (0.37%) 0.19% (1.00%) 0.07% (0.20%) 0.17% (0.90%) 0.04% (0.20%) 0.03% (0.15%) 0.03% (0.14%) 0.02% (0.09%) 0.01% (0.05%)

BTM class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 a

Percent of the study area without flats (class 1) included.

Table 22.2: Description of the 18 sampling zones, derived from the Benthic Terrain Model and supervised backscatter classification, with associated main abiotic and biotic habitat descriptors. Dive surveys (number)

Camera stations (number)

Dominant abiotic habitatsa

1

0

17

Soft sediment (100%)

2

8

51

3

0

13

4

2

46

5

7

45

Soft sediment (96%) and rocky reef with soft sediment (4%) Soft sediment (54%) and sand with coarse sediments (46%) Soft sediment (54%) and sand with coarse sediments (46%) Sand (42%), shell debris (20%), and rock rubble (16%)

6

4

19

Sampling zone

Boulder (42%), sand indented reef (26%), and bedrock (26%)

Dominant biotic habitats Mixed infaunal community and mobile invertebrates Mixed infaunal community and mobile invertebrates Rhodolith beds and mixed infaunal communities dominated by horse mussels Rhodolith beds, infaunal communities and mobile invertebrates Mixed macroalgal canopy, mixture of subcanopy and turf algae, sessile and mobile invertebrates, and small areas of mixed infaunal community Ecklonia radiata macroalgal canopy with encrusting and mobile invertebrates (Continued)

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 413 Table 22.2: (Continued) Dive surveys (number)

Camera stations (number)

7

3

26

8

9

31

9

0

16

10

0

14

11

12

48

12

1

31

13

0

26

14

0

11

15 16 17 18

0 0 0 0

0 2 0 7

Sampling zone

a

Dominant abiotic habitatsa

Dominant biotic habitats

Sand indented reef Combinations of subcanopy and turfing (19%), sand (19%), and algae with encrusting invertebrates, such as patch reef (15%) sponges and sea anemones Sand (35%), patch reef Subcanopy and turfing algae with (26%), and sand encrusting invertebrates, such as sponges indented reef (13%) and sea anemones Soft sediment (81%) and No biotic habitat identified mixed (19%) Coarse sediment (79%) Subcanopy and turf algae with mobile and sand (14%) invertebrates Sand (56%) and cobble Sea anemone beds, mixed turf algae and (21%) rhodolith beds Sand (42%) and coarse Combination of mobile invertebrates, mixed sand (29%) macroalgal canopy and sea anemone beds Mobile invertebrates and mixed algal turf Sand (56%) and coarse sediment with shell debris (36%) Mobile invertebrates and mixed algal turf Coarse sediment shell debris (55%) and sand (36%) Not sampled Not sampled (outside area of study) Soft sediment (100%) None present Not sampled Not sampled Soft sediment (100%) Mobile invertebrates and mixed algal turf

Percentages do not necessarily add up to 100% because dominant category includes only those components .10%.

Biological communities While there have been several dive surveys around Kapiti Island to quantify the biological response of key invertebrate and finfish species to marine reserve protection post-1992, very little work has been done to quantify habitat types or their distributions. Furthermore, this is the first time that visual surveys have been conducted to ground truth physical habitat types and define associated biogenic habitats within and outside Kapiti Marine Reserve. Basic qualitative descriptions of the main habitat-forming species identified during the survey, based on visual surveys via camera and SCUBA divers, are provided (Table 22.1). Seafloor images are used to illustrate communities that are abundant (common and representative of the region), unique, or have conservation importance (Fig. 22.6). Soft sediment infaunal communities: Soft sediments are composed of mud, sand, coarse sediments, and shell hash. Polychaetes and other burrowing fauna such as sipunculids and small bivalve species are found in the soft sediments. Horse mussels (Atrina

414 Chapter 22

Figure 22.5 Backscatter classes (colored) derived from the intensity of the backscatter signal and used to inform the distribution of biological sampling within the 18 sampling zones, delineated in red. Crosses are photo sample locations; circles are dive sites. Marine reserve boundary is marked by the black dashed line.

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 415

Figure 22.6 Seafloor photos surround Kapiti Island: Anemone (Anthothoe albocincta) beds on soft sediments at the edges of gravel and cobble habitat (top left). Macroalgae on rocky reef with an understory of red and turfing algae (left center). Rhodolith bed on top of coarse sand and gravels forming a transition between soft and hard substrata (bottom). High densities of paua (Haliotis iris) within a shallow water mixed macroalgal community (right).

zelandica) are patchily distributed in the shallower regions. Ophiuroids and holothuroids are the dominant mobile invertebrates found in soft bottom areas, with the occasional presence of scallops (Pecten novaezelandiae). Soft sediment communities range from 20 61 m in depth.

416 Chapter 22 Anemone beds: Large expanses of anemone beds, Anthothoe albocincta, are found in a depth range of 4 31 m off the eastern side of the island, in the main channel, although Baxter (1987) also found large beds off the northwest corner of the island in the 1980s (pers. comm.). Anemone beds are typically overlain on soft sediment with the edges of the bed associated with gravel and cobble. Turf algae are observed sparsely throughout the bed. While anemone beds have been reported from the eastern side of the island before, the extent of the mapped beds is much larger than previously realized. Interestingly Battershill et al. (1993) state that the only anemone that was common in their survey was the jewel anemone, Corynactis haddoni. Rhodolith beds: Also known as maerl in the Northern Hemisphere, rhodoliths form a large bed found in a depth range of 10 46 m on the eastern side of the island. This bed was recorded by Battershill et al. (1993), although they were unable to map its full extent. The rhodolith bed occurs on top of and mixed into coarse sand and gravels, providing a transition from sandy, muddy habitats to hard substrata. Although biodiversity was not measured within the bed, rhodolith beds are known to host a large number of species, providing a three-dimensional space for the settlement of shellfish larvae and refugia for juvenile fish (Nelson et al., 2012). The occurrence of a large rhodolith bed at Kapiti Island is ecologically important, given that the extent of rhodolith beds in other parts of New Zealand is largely unknown (Nelson et al., 2012). Typically, rhodoliths are long-lived and slow growing (Nelson et al., 2012), making them vulnerable to various forms of disturbance, including dredging and sedimentation. Because of their ecological role as a habitat-forming species and their vulnerability to damage, they are considered to be a sensitive marine benthic habitat (MacDiarmid et al., 2013). Reef sponge communities: Encrusting and erect sponges (incl. Biemma rufescens, Ancorina alata, Polymastia croceus, Raspalia topsenti, Strongylacidon novaezealandiae, Tedania connectens, Tedania battershilli, and Tethya spp.) are found on large boulders, large patch rocky reefs, and complex platforms in a depth range of 26 61 m. Crustose coralline algae, turf algae, and encrusting invertebrates are also present amongst the large globular sponges. Shallow water mixed algal beds: A mixed macroalgal community associated with cobble and boulders occurs on the eastern side of the island in a depth range of 0.5 9 m. Macroalgal stands are dominated by Carpophyllum maschalocarpum and C. flexuosum. The subcanopy is dense and composed of foliose reds, browns, and turf algae. This algal community supports large densities of paua (Haliotis iris) and kina (E. chloroticus). The boulders that help to define the geology of this community are covered in encrusting invertebrates and crustose coralline algae. Macroalgal forest: Large stands of macroalgae on rugose rocky reef and bedrock sheets, and also occasionally on top of large boulders, are found on the western, southern, and northern end of the island. E. radiata and Lessonia spp. dominate the

Kapiti Island’s inner shelf habitats 417 macroalgal stands. The understory of the Ecklonia forest is composed of a moderate to sparse cover of foliose reds, a mixture of subcanopy, and turf algae. Fauna associated with hard substrata, such as sponges, ascidians, and hydrozoans, are also found in this zone. The combination of rugose and varied habitat and the high nutrient kelp environment support paua (H. iris), kina (E. chloroticus), rock lobster (J. edwardsii), and finfish populations. In addition to the different biological communities, there were small transition zones between them, comprised of gravel beds, rhodolith beds, and anemone beds. Rhodolith beds, anemone beds, and turf algae on rock rubble often cooccurred. Furthermore, in the most rugose areas of the survey area, several overhangs, caves, and swim-through tunnels were observed in areas of rocky reef, with dense macroalgal fields.

Surrogacy Earlier studies in New Zealand have successfully used backscatter data as a proxy for substrate mapping (Lamarche et al., 2009, 2011; Lucieer and Lamarche, 2011). In the present study, further validation is required before we will be able to correlate physical factors influencing seafloor texture (e.g., grain size) to metrics of biodiversity. The biological surveys from this study do, however, give valuable information on broadscale habitat classes that will be important in determining the relationships between physical surrogates and the benthos. From the 14 BTM classes sampled, we were able to identify five broad biophysical classes: Habitat 1: Soft sediment, made up of sand and coarse sediments. Associated biota included infaunal communities and mobile invertebrates. Habitat 2: Composed of fine to coarse sand, areas of coarse sediments such as shell debris and gravels. Associated biota included infaunal communities with mobile invertebrates, mixture of rhodolith beds, and anemone beds. Habitat 3: Mixed substrata: coarse sand, shell debris, rock rubble, and cobble. Associated biota included a mixed macroalgal canopy, subcanopy, and turf algae, with various densities of sessile and mobile invertebrates. Habitat 4: Sand-inundated rocky reef and patch reefs made up of rocky reef, sand, shell debris, and rock rubble. Associated biota included a mixture of subcanopy and turfing algae, with encrusting invertebrates such as sponges and sea anemones. Habitat 5: Rocky reef made up of boulders and bedrock, with smaller areas of sandinundated reef. Associated biota included E. radiata macroalgal canopy with encrusting invertebrates, such as sponges, and mobile invertebrates, such as paua and kina. Methods translating backscatter and BTM outputs to indices for biogenic habitat-forming communities are in the preliminary stages of development and validation. Further work is

418 Chapter 22 required to demonstrate the value of a surrogacy approach to the prediction of biodiversity patterns, particularly when the number of biological samples is limited. Such an approach may facilitate an understanding of ecosystem processes in the region and contribute to integrated marine management. Kapiti Island and its marine surroundings have substantial cultural value for iwi (M¯aoritribes), because the island and the submarine landscape encompass important endemic flora and fauna, and the marine environment has long been an important source of seafood. It also has important economic potential, so that developing such tools as seafloor (Lamarche et al., 2017a,b) and habitat maps has strong relevance to the region. We have collected a comprehensive dataset consisting of geophysical and biogenic habitat data that provide the means to develop robust habitat maps for the submarine environment of Kapiti Island including the Kapiti Marine Reserve.

Acknowledgements The surveys were jointly funded by The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the Department of Conservation (DOC)’s partnership with Air New Zealand, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), and Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). We are grateful to the work of boat skippers, NIWA’s echosounder operators, all support crew, and DOC and VUW divers.

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Further Reading Lamarche, G., Rowden, A.A., Mountjoy, J., Lucieer, V., Verdier, A.L., 2012. The Cook Strait Canyon, New Zealand: Geomorphology and seafloor biodiversity of a large bedrock canyon system in a tectonically active environment. In: Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat, pp. 727 737.