Habitat Models for the Northern Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) 1999

This is a collection of 171 habitat quality models for fauna species that were mapped across forest areas in the Upper North East (UNE) and the Lower North East (LNE) NSW during the Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) in 1999.  They are 100m grids stored in MGA Zone 56 projection.  34 models are mapped on public tenure and 137 over all tenure. The ‘public land’ fauna models were those that modelled fairly on public land, some using Presence-Absence modelling, and were restricted to public land because the systematic surveys were carried out there (eg. primarily NEFBS, State Forest EIS, CRA). Some all-tenure (Presence-only) models were most likely have been cut to public land if it was considered that they modelled better there.  In this case there would be two versions of the same model, but only one was used in the CRA.
It was decided that the flora models would not be published due to their poor quality and their need for updating with better records in the time since. 
Note that a revised edition of approximately a third of the models were produced in 2008: https://iar.environment.nsw.gov.au/dataset/revised-northern-cra-habitat-models-2008
The original models were produced as part of a Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) for the Regional Forest Assessment (RFA) process. The specific objective of these models was to identify core areas of forest capable of sustaining viable populations of priority species.
Habitat quality models were derived using known distributions of species combined with abiotic, biotic, terrain, habitat and geographic layers within a GIS. These known species-habitat relationships were then used to model predicted distributions and thus areas of significant habitat for the species of concern. Flora and fauna experts were used to validate the models and define areas of high-quality habitat for each species. The models are either mapped across All Tenure (at) or Public Tenure (pt).  Each species model is named with the Catalogue of Australian Vertebrates (CAVS) code. 
Fauna models were developed using logistic regression models (generalised additive models) of species presence and absence to mapped environmental features. Where statistical models were judged by the expert panel to be inadequate, qualitative or expert models were derived.
Additionally, fauna experts were used to identify habitat quality. Probability levels were used where appropriate to define high (class 1), intermediate (class 2), and marginal (class 3) habitat. 
Flora models were produced using a combination of GAM inference of species sightings with mapped environmental features and a boolean overlay of selected environmental features along with expert review. Expert judgement was employed to categorise flora habitat into two classes of potential habitat: 
Occupied habitat (class 1) that shows validated point localities or population areas with a surrounding buffer to account for local seed bank or regeneration.
High quality habitat (class 2) which is the rest of the model constructed using the boolean overlay of environmental layers.
See Table 3A (pg.33-38) in report for full a breakdown of species models, methods used and assessment of model confidence. 
The report notes that models were not validated due to time constraints and that results should be viewed as a "minimum estimate of high-quality habitat for the purposes of the CRA." 
The official report, Modelling areas of habitat significance for vertebrate fauna and vascular flora in north-east NSW 1999, expands on the methodology and outputs. The report is stored for internal access under P:\Corporate\Products\Biodiversity\Habitat\CRA_Northern
MODELLING AREAS OF HABITAT SIGNIFICANCE FOR VERTEBRATE FAUNA AND VASCULAR FLORA IN NORTH EAST NSW
A project undertaken as part of the NSW Comprehensive Regional Assessments, April 1999
Project number NA 23/EH
The fauna species modelled are as follows:
•   0021     Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove
•   0023     Superb Fruit-Dove
•   0035     Brush Bronzewing
•   0174     Bush Stone-curlew
•   0183     Black-necked Stork
•   0196     Black Bittern
•   0223     Red Goshawk
•   0241     Osprey
•   0248     Powerful Owl
•   0250     Masked Owl
•   0253     Sooty Owl
•   0258     Musk Lorikeet
•   0264     Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
•   0265     Glossy Black-Cockatoo
•   0268     Gang-gang Cockatoo
•   0302     Turquoise Parrot
•   0324     Forest Kingfisher
•   0345     Little Bronze-Cuckoo
•   0350     Superb Lyrebird (edwardsii)
•   0351     Albert's Lyrebird
•   0355     Rufous Scrub-bird
•   0376     White-eared Monarch
•   0385     Hooded Robin
•   0396     Pale-yellow Robin
•   0413     Little Shrike-thrush
•   0443     Grey-crowned Babbler
•   0498     Chestnut-rumped Hylacola
•   0598     Painted Honeyeater
•   0603     Regent Honeyeater
•   0610     Mangrove Honeyeater
•   0686     Paradise Riflebird
•   0868     Forest Raven
•   1008     Tiger Quoll
•   1017     Brush-tailed Phascogale
•   1033     Dusky Antechinus
•   1045     Common Planigale
•   1136     Yellow-bellied Glider
•   1150     Eastern Pygmy-possum
•   1162     Koala
•   1165     Common Wombat
•   1175     Long-nosed Potoroo
•   1187     Rufous Bettong
•   1215     Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby
•   1245     Parma Wallaby
•   1259     Whiptail Wallaby
•   1280     Pteropus poliocephalus
•   1282     Pteropus alecto
•   1290     Nyctimene robinsoni
•   1294     Syconycteris australis
•   1303     Rhinolophus megaphyllus
•   1324     Nyctinomus australis
•   1329     Mormopterus norfolkensis
•   1336     Nyctophilus bifax
•   1353     Chalinolobus dwyeri
•   1354     Chalinolobus nigrogriseus
•   1361     Scotoeanax rueppellii
•   1362     Scotorepens greyii
•   1364     Scotorepens balstoni
•   1369     Kerivoula papuensis
•   1372     Falsistrellus tasmaniensis
•   1377     Vespadelus pumilus
•   1401     Pale Field-rat
•   1455     New Holland Mouse
•   1466     Eastern Chestnut Mouse
•   2124     Eulamprus tryoni
•   2139     Underwoodisaurus sphyrurus
•   2182     Tympanocryptis diemensis
•   2245     Hypsilurus spinipes
•   2287     Varanus rosenbergi
•   2294     Ophioscincus truncatus
•   2453     Lampropholis caligula
•   2467     Cautula zia
•   2468     Ctenotus eurydice
•   2550     Eulamprus kosciuskoi
•   2559     Eulamprus tenuis
•   2615     Austrelaps ramsayi
•   2645     Cacophis harriettae
•   2665     Drysdalia coronoides
•   2675     Hoplocephalus bitorquatus
•   2676     Hoplocephalus bungaroides
•   2687     Saltuarius swaini
•   3007     Assa darlingtoni
•   3008     Mixophyes fleayi
•   3039     Litoria littlejohni
•   3042     Heleioporus australiacus
•   3073     Mixophyes balbus
•   3075     Mixophyes iteratus
•   3107     Philoria kundagungan
•   3109     Philoria sphagnicolus
•   3117     Pseudophryne bibronii
•   3166     Litoria aurea
•   3168     Litoria booroolongensis
•   3169     Litoria brevipalmata
•   3186     Litoria subglandulosa
•   3202     Litoria olongburensis
•   3217     Litoria piperata
•   3219     Litoria revelata
•   9004     Saproscincus challengeri
•   9006     Philoria pughi
•   9007     Philoria richmondensis
•   9029     Scotorepens sp 1
•   9058     Lampropholis elongata
•   9059     Elseya georgesi
•   9060     Elseya purvisi
•   9061     Emydura sp 1
•   9103     Elseya sp 2
•   0017     Black-breasted Button-quail
•   0025     Wompoo Fruit-Dove
•   0230     Square-tailed Kite
•   0234     Pacific Baza
•   0246     Barking Owl
•   0261     Double-eyed Fig-Parrot
•   0309     Swift Parrot
•   0314     Marbled Frogmouth
•   0405     Olive Whistler
•   0428     Barred Cuckoo-shrike
•   0519     Eastern Bristlebird
•   0619     Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
•   1025     Vespadelus troughtoni
•   1133     Greater Glider
•   1137     Squirrel Glider
•   1234     Red-legged Pademelon
•   1260     Black-striped Wallaby
•   1341     Miniopterus schreibersii
•   1346     Miniopterus australis
•   1357     Myotis adversus
•   1438     Broad-toothed Rat
•   1464     Hastings River Mouse
•   1500     Grassland Melomys
•   1531     Dingo
•   2293     Coeranoscincus reticulatus
•   2552     Eulamprus murrayi
•   2640     Acanthophis antarcticus
•   2677     Hoplocephalus stephensii
•   2723     Tropidechis carinatus
•   2764     Saproscincus galli
•   2765     Saproscincus rosei
•   3108     Philoria loveridgei
•   3137     Crinia tinnula
•   3184     Litoria freycineti
•   3190     Litoria jervisiensis

Tags: Fauna, Flora, Habitat model, Multiple species modelling
Organization: NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water