Australia - Present Major Vegetation Groups - NVIS Version 5.1 (Albers 100m analysis product)

This raster dataset 'NVIS5_1_AUST_EXT_ MVG_ALB' (or 'aus5_1e_mvg' in GRID format) provides the latest summary information on Australia's present (extant) native vegetation, which has been classified into Major Vegetation groups. It is in Albers Equal Area projection with a 100 m x 100 m (1 Ha) cell size. A comparable Pre-1750 (pre-European, pre-clearing) raster dataset is available: 

- NVIS5_1_AUST_PRE_MVG_ALB' (or 'aus5_1p_mvg' in GRID format). 

For this update, Version 5.1, the extant dataset for Tasmania has been updated, with gapfilling work being completed for the NSW extant dataset. Some of the rulesets underpinning the assignment of MVGs and MVSs have also been updated to improve consistency for their allocation. Version 5.0 substantially standardised the lookup tables (NVIS5_1_LUT_DETAILxxxx and NVIS5_1_LUT_AUST_FLATxxxx). For more detail refer to the associate lookup tables. Previously, Version 4.2 updated NSW. Version 4.1 most agencies supplied data to the update.

Summaries were derived from the best available data in the NVIS extant theme. This product is derived from a compilation of data collected at different scales on different dates by different organisations. Please refer to the separate Key Dataset map showing scales of the input datasets 'NVIS5_1_KEY_DSET_xxx'. 

Gaps in the NVIS database were filled by non-NVIS data, notably parts of South Australia and small areas of New South Wales such as the Curlewis area. The data represent on-ground dates of up to 2006 in Queensland, 2001 to 2005 in South Australia (depending on the region) and 2004/5 in other jurisdictions, except NSW. NVIS data was partially updated in NSW with 2001-09 data, with extensive areas of 1997 data remaining from the earlier version of NVIS.

Major Vegetation Groups were identified to summarise the type and distribution of Australia's native vegetation. The classification contains different mixes of plant species within the canopy, shrub or ground layers, but are structurally similar and are often dominated by a single genus. In a mapping sense, the groups reflect the dominant vegetation occurring in a map unit where there are a mix of several vegetation types. Subdominant vegetation groups which may also be present in the map unit are not shown. For example, the dominant vegetation in an area may be mapped as dominated by eucalypt open forest, although it contains pockets of rainforest, shrubland and grassland vegetation as subdominants.

A number of other non-vegetation and non-native vegetation land cover types are also represented as Major Vegetation Groups. These are provided for cartographic purposes, but should not be used for analyses. 

The (related) Major Vegetation Subgroups represent the dominant vegetation groups in the dominant stratum and are available as separate raster datasets:

- NVIS5_1_AUST_EXT_MVS_ALB
- NVIS5_1_AUST_PRE_MVS_ALB

For further background and other NVIS products, please see the links at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/land/native-vegetation/national-vegetation-information-system .CC - Attribution (CC BY)
This data has been licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. More information can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

You are free to:
Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format 
Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material 
for any purpose, even commercially. 

You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
© Commonwealth of Australia (Department of the Environment and Energy) 2018
Users should be aware that MVGs were derived from data at a range of dates, scales and reliabilities. This version was based on improved NVIS data from Tasmania with some gapfill work completed for NSW, and contains V5.0 data for all other states. Collection scale, more-detailed vegetation floristic and structural data and/or more-consistent interpretations have been improved for many parts of the state. Therefore, it would not be valid to compare this version quantitatively with earlier version(s) of NVIS. Non-vegetation and non-native vegetation major vegetation classes are not to be used in quantitative analyses.

Tags: Downloadable Data, FLORA Native_Mapping, FORESTS Natural_Mapping, LAND Cover_Mapping, VEGETATION_Classification, VEGETATION_Mapping
Organization: Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water