The NISB Habitat Map was created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data for those habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the 'inner' and 'mid-shelf' regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine 'ecoregions' or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The NISB Habitat Map consists of two layers for each state. _NISB.shp consists of the entire available habitat mapping at a resolution finer than 1:50 000 (with a few exceptions, outlined in the data quality section below). _NISB_PLUS.shp consists of all the data in _NISB.shp along with coarser resolution data, including NVIS and OzEstuaries data. These layers were used to produce the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series 10 km and 50 km tile maps. Note: This data is labelled as “NISB_plus”, indicating that it is the NISB Habitat layer plus other lower quality layers.

The NISB Habitat Map was created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data for those habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the 'inner' and 'mid-shelf' regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine 'ecoregions' or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The NISB Habitat Map consists of two layers for each state. _NISB.shp consists of the entire available habitat mapping at a resolution finer than 1:50 000 (with a few exceptions, outlined in the data quality section below). _NISB_PLUS.shp consists of all the data in _NISB.shp along with coarser resolution data, including NVIS and OzEstuaries data. These layers were used to produce the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series 10 km and 50 km tile maps. Note: This data is labelled as “NISB_plus”, indicating that it is the NISB Habitat layer plus other lower quality layers.

The NISB Habitat Map was created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data for those habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the 'inner' and 'mid-shelf' regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine 'ecoregions' or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The NISB Habitat Map consists of two layers for each state. _NISB.shp consists of the entire available habitat mapping at a resolution finer than 1:50 000 (with a few exceptions, outlined in the data quality section below). _NISB_PLUS.shp consists of all the data in _NISB.shp along with coarser resolution data, including NVIS and OzEstuaries data. These layers were used to produce the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series 10 km and 50 km tile maps. Note: This data is labelled as “NISB_plus”, indicating that it is the NISB Habitat layer plus other lower quality layers.

The NISB Habitat Map was created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data for those habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the 'inner' and 'mid-shelf' regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine 'ecoregions' or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The NISB Habitat Map consists of two layers for each state. _NISB.shp consists of the entire available habitat mapping at a resolution finer than 1:50 000 (with a few exceptions, outlined in the data quality section below). _NISB_PLUS.shp consists of all the data in _NISB.shp along with coarser resolution data, including NVIS and OzEstuaries data. These layers were used to produce the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series 10 km and 50 km tile maps. Note: This data is labelled as “NISB_plus”, indicating that it is the NISB Habitat layer plus other lower quality layers.

The NISB Habitat Map was created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data for those habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the 'inner' and 'mid-shelf' regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine 'ecoregions' or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The NISB Habitat Map consists of two layers for each state. _NISB.shp consists of the entire available habitat mapping at a resolution finer than 1:50 000 (with a few exceptions, outlined in the data quality section below). _NISB_PLUS.shp consists of all the data in _NISB.shp along with coarser resolution data, including NVIS and OzEstuaries data. These layers were used to produce the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series 10 km and 50 km tile maps. Note: This data is labelled as “NISB_plus”, indicating that it is the NISB Habitat layer plus other lower quality layers.

The NISB Habitat Map was created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data for those habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the 'inner' and 'mid-shelf' regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine 'ecoregions' or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The NISB Habitat Map consists of two layers for each state. _NISB.shp consists of the entire available habitat mapping at a resolution finer than 1:50 000 (with a few exceptions, outlined in the data quality section below). _NISB_PLUS.shp consists of all the data in _NISB.shp along with coarser resolution data, including NVIS and OzEstuaries data. These layers were used to produce the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series 10 km and 50 km tile maps. NB This NSW layer is only _NISB.shp, not _NISB_PLUS.shp.

The National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series were derived from the NISB Habitat Map created by the University of Tasmania for a partnership between the Department of Climate Change and the National Land and Water Resources Audit. It supports the DCC/Audit partnership by providing a nationally consistent set of the available mapping data that show the distribution of habitats that occur between the approximate position of the highest astronomical tide mark (HAT) and the location of the outer limit of the photic benthic zone (approximately at the 50-70 m depth contour). This area is broadly equivalent to the “inner” and “mid-shelf” regions identified by Geoscience Australia. The resulting map data set forms a core component of the ECM National Habitat Map Series. The habitat classes include: coral reef, rock dominated habitat, sediment dominated habitat, mangroves, saltmarsh, seagrass, macroalgae and filter feeders (e.g. sponges), as defined in the NISB Habitat Classification Scheme. The scheme is designed to support the development of marine ‘ecoregions’ or bioregional subregions. Details of the scheme and the process of its development are available in National Intertidal/Subtidal Benthic (NISB) Habitat Classification Scheme Version 1 (Mount, Bricher and Newton, 2007). The 10 km and 50 km tiles distribution maps that form the National ECM Key Habitat Distribution Map Series were derived from the NISB Habitat Map in order to produce maps at resolutions that are easy to interpret at state and national extents. For each state, two layers were produced, one with 10 km and one with 50 km tiles. In each layer, new fields were created listing the presence, absence, unknown distribution or nonapplicability of the Habitats of Interest (HOI). The HOI are rock substrate (Class 1.2), unconsolidated substrates (Class 2.0), coral habitat (classes 1.1 and 1.2.2.3), sediment dominated habitats (Class 2.0.1), seagrass dominated habitats (Classes 1.2.2.4 and 2.0.2.1), mangrove dominated habitats (Class 2.0.2.2) and saltmarsh dominated habitats (Class 2.0.2.3). There are technical geographic and cartographic issues that arise when comparing mapped data sets of multiple scales, as is the case for this compiled and derived data set. The two derived information products were generated to provide a simplified spatial representation of the broad distribution patterns of each of the key habitats National ECM Habitat Map Series User Guide_v7.doc 30/04/2008 Page 32 of 156 across large areas. These derived products are designed to enable the visualisation of the habitat distributions at the regional and national extents. It is extremely important to note that they are definitely NOT able to be used to calculate areas of habitat types.

This record describes a single aggregated dataset of the geomorphic habitat environment (facies) for Australia's 7 states and territories: New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia. The classification system contains 12 easily identifiable and representative environments: Barrier/back-barrier, Bedrock, Central Basin, Channel, Coral, Flood- and Ebb-tide Delta, Fluvial (bay-head) Delta, Intertidal Flats, Mangrove, Rocky Reef, Saltmarsh/Saltflat, Tidal Sand Banks (and Unassigned). These types represent habitats found across all coastal systems in Australia. For the New South Wales region, 134 coastal waterways are described. Most of the estuaries of New South Wales are under intense land use pressure with approximately 80% of the State's population living near an estuary (NSW Dept of Land and Water Conservation) For the Victorian region, 54 coastal waterways are described. Most of the 54 coastal waterways have a "Modified" environmental condition (as opposed to "Near Pristine"), according to the National Land and Water Resources Audit definition. For the Tasmanian region, 88 coastal waterways are described. The majority of near pristine estuaries in Tasmania are located in the south and west of the State and on Cape Barren Island, according to the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment. For the Queensland region, 213 coastal waterways are described. Southern and central Great Barrier Reef lagoon coasts have a broad spectrum of river, tide and wave- dominated estuaries. For the Northern Territory region, 63 coastal waterways are described. Estuaries on the northern Arnhem Land, Gulf of Carpentaria coasts are predominantly tide-dominated estuaries, which vary greatly in size and floodplain characteristics. For the South Australia region, 36 coastal waterways are described. Most of the 36 coastal waterways have a "Modified" environmental condition (as opposed to "Near Pristine"), according to the National Land and Water Resources Audit definition. For the Western Australia region, 103 coastal waterways are described. Western Australia has a diverse range of Estuaries due to different climates. Ranging from mostly "near pristine" and tide influenced estuaries in the north to "near pristine" wave dominated estuaries in the southwest region.