|The following two national Australian vegetation datasets may be useful for researchers with bigger picture questions about Australian vegetation and landcover:
This information was prepared by Alex Ullrich
|The Dynamic Land Cover Dataset
||The Dynamic Land Cover Dataset of Australia is the first nationally consistent and thematically comprehensive land cover reference for Australia. It provides a base-line for identifying and reporting on change and trends in vegetation cover and extent. The DLCD presents a synopsis of land cover information for every 250m by 250m area of the country from April 2000 to April 2008. The dataset shows the trend in annual minimum, mean and maximum of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), showing the change in behaviour of land cover across Australia for the period 2000 to 2008.
|National Vegetation Information System
||The National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) is a comprehensive data system that provides information on the extent and distribution of vegetation types in Australian landscapes.The NVIS framework was developed to enable the compilation of a nationally consistent vegetation dataset from data collected by states and territories. NVIS information has been compiled to enable Australia-wide analyses of the Major Vegetation Groups (MVGs) and Major Vegetation Subgroups (MVSs) using an ArcInfo Grid with 100 m x 100 m resolution.
|We also have the following three South East NSW vegetation datasets for those researchers interested vegetation of Illawarra and surrounding areas.
|Southeast NSW Native Vegetation Classification and Mapping – SCIVI VIS_ID 2230
||Native vegetation of the NSW south coast, escarpment and southeast tablelands were classified into 191 floristic assemblages at a level of detail appropriate for the discrimination of Threatened Ecological Communities and other vegetation units referred to in government legislation. Vegetation classification was based on a compilation of ~ 8,500 full-floristic field survey sites from previous studies. Distribution of vegetation types was mapped by spatial interpolation (modelling) from classified sites, using a hybrid decision-tree/expert system. The final model was cut to ‘extant’ boundaries using a compiled coverage of aerial photograph interpretation (API) of woody and wetland vegetation boundaries.
|The Native Vegetation of the Woronora, O’Hares and Sydney Metropolitan Catchments
||The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, (NPWS, 2003) Native vegetation of the Woronora, O’Hares and Metropolitan Catchments data layer includes mapping the boundaries of vegetation communities and lists attributes including vegetation community, structure and disturbance. Vegetation communities were determined by aerial photograph interpretation and statistical analysis of quantitative plots with post mapping fieldwork to check the communities.|
|The Native Vegetation of the Warragamba Special Area
||The Warragamba Special Area covers around 260,000 hectares of remote, rugged bushland in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. It protects the catchment of Lake Burragorang, which is Sydney’s major water source.
Vegetation maps show the distribution and composition of the Warragamba Special Area’s native vegetation. It is the result of a comprehensive field survey, which found outstanding botanical diversity in the area. This includes:
– over 1400 native plant species
– 78 distinct vegetation communities
– 75 eucalypt species – perhaps the highest diversity of eucalypts in the world
– 26 plant species that are threatened in NSW, and 67 species that are on the Rare or Threatened Plants (ROTAP) list.