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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Fabrice StephensonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2026 New Zealand Department of Conservation. Diversity and Distributions published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Aim: A key element of the Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3 is ‘representativity’, which refers to the inclusion of the full range of existing ecosystems, ecological processes and regions within protected areas, with the aim of ensuring that the full spectrum of biodiversity is protected. Here we use the New Zealand Seafloor Community Classification (NZSCC), which depicts compositional turnover of 1716 taxa (demersal fish, reef fish, benthic invertebrates and macroalgae) classified in 75 groups representing seafloor communities, and the conservation planning software Zonation to explore how representativity of benthic communities could be enhanced across spatial management areas (including protected areas) in New Zealand's marine environment. Location: New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone. Methods: 154 Spatial layers derived from the NZSSC depicting within- and between- group similarity/dissimilarity and taxonomic richness, representing beta and alpha diversity respectively, are used to explore scenarios to provide an optimal expansion of the current network of spatial management areas. Results: Results indicate that a relatively small increase in spatial protection (1.5%) to the existing spatial management network can result in large increases in the representativity of all NZSCC groups, including 46 groups (out of 75) currently underrepresented. Main Conclusions: The use of within- and between-group similarity/dissimilarity is a significant improvement on spatial prioritisation processes that consider groups within benthic classifications to be homogenous. These results provide a solid base for informing the development of improved future protection measures within New Zealand that can meaningfully contribute to the representativity element of the Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3, and the approach presented here can be applied to other regions.
Author(s): Tablada J, Geange S, Hiddink JG, Stephenson F
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Diversity and Distributions
Year: 2026
Volume: 32
Issue: 2
Print publication date: 01/02/2026
Online publication date: 29/01/2026
Acceptance date: 24/12/2025
Date deposited: 09/02/2026
ISSN (print): 1366-9516
ISSN (electronic): 1472-4642
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70142
DOI: 10.1111/ddi.70142
Data Access Statement: Spatial management area layers used in this research are publicly available in the Department of Conservation Marine Data Portal: https:// doc-marine-data-deptconservation.hub.arcgis.com/ and the Ministry for Primary Industries Open Geospatial Data Portal: https://data-mpi. opendata.arcgis.com/. Benthic invertebrates' richness was sourced from Brough et al. (2025). All data layers and R code used in this research are available as a Dryad dataset: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q573n6bg
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