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 It was decided that the flora models would not be published due to their poor quality and their need for updating with better records in the time since.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

Layer of regional key habitats for fauna of the Upper North East and Lower North East NSW CRA regions. Modelled distributions for priority forest fauna were subjected to a pattern analysis technique to derive species assemblages and their predicted distributions. Key habitats (core habitats and hot spots) were then derived from the predicted assemblage distributions. Maps of another fauna key habitat type, centres of endemism, were generated for the UNE and LNE CRA studies (see appropriate metadata statement). The three fauna key habitat types were combined into one map layer. The final key habitats map layer is a regional representation displaying the likelihood of occurrence of key habitats for fauna consolidated at the regional scale. The mapping and derivation has been based on state-of-the-art data and GIS tools combined with qualitative interpretation based on ecological principles and expertise. As of April 2001, the mapping has not been formally field tested and the methods have not been peer-reviewed outside several conference and workshop presentations, all well received. A journal paper and project report are in preparation.

Map of the distribution of each forest ecosystem across extant forest in the Lower North East CRA region. Three separate classifications and mapping techniques were used to derive the ecosystems in three distinct biogeographic regions and these classifications and maps were then expertly integrated and merged to create a full coverage across the region. The ecosystems were mapped for application in the Comprehensive Regional Assessment process. ; ; The 100m modelled grid data is to be used in a regional context and not for fine scale interpretation. For areas without detailed vegetation mapping (western portions of the UNE and LNE regions, and the southern portion of the LNE region) the modelled distributions were used to predict the proportion of a modelled ecosystem only. As a result, the exact spatial representation of the data is not designed to be accurate.; ; VIS ID 3883

Map of the distribution of each forest ecosystem across extant forest in the Upper North East CRA region. Two separate classifications and mapping techniques were used to derive the ecosystems in two distinct biogeographic regions and these classifications and maps were then expertly integrated and merged to create a full coverage across the region. ; ; The 100m modelled grid data is to be used in a regional context and not for fine scale interpretation. For areas without detailed vegetation mapping (western portions of the UNE and LNE regions, and the southern portion of the LNE region) the modelled distributions were used to predict the proportion of a modelled ecosystem only. As a result, the exact spatial representation of the data is not designed to be accurate.; ; VIS ID 3882

Two spatial products generated for the Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA), namely floristic linework captured by aerial photographic interpretation (API), and a; forest ecosystem model, were integrated to provide an improved spatial map of forest ecosystem distribution on the Mid North Coast of NSW. The process involved intuitive assignment of dominant forest ecosystems to polygons captured by the API, and involved a number of iterative steps. The resultant layer is both polygon and grid cell based, and provides an interim spatial product upon which Government agencies will be able to identify high conservation value native vegetation across the Mid North Coast of NSW with reasonable reliability.; The original forest ecosystem classification included some 230 ecosystems, occurring from the Queensland Border to the Lower Hunter Valley. Of these, 124 were eliminated, either because they were not considered to occur in the Mid North; Coast, or they were replaced by new or existing ecosystems. A total of 40 ecosystems were introduced, including splits of existing ecosystems (eg. rainforest) or new ecosystems imported from more recent classifications. The final number of ecosystems mapped within the Mid North Coast for this project was 140. Derivation of current and former extent of each ecosystem was undertaken to provide an index of conservation status in the form of a %-cleared estimate. In; summary, 39 ecosystems possessed a %-cleared value of at least 50%, while 46 ecosystems were less than 20% cleared. Several of those with a high clearing rate are equivalent to endangered ecological communities listed under the Threatened Species Act 1995. In the longer term, an improved classification will be required to replace forest ecosystems, which is overly broad on coastal and private land given the influence of commercial forest types on the classification. Additional targeted API will also be; required in future, as the reliability of API undertaken for the CRA is questionable in many areas. Provision of an improved API coverage and a more appropriate classification will enable production of a new generation of vegetation mapping products for north-east NSW, providing the future basis for property vegetation planning, benchmarking, bio-certification and bio-banking.; VIS_ID 3886

The project objective was to prepare a map of forest ecosystems for the Southern CRA Region. Based on the JANIS criteria (JANIS 1997), forest ecosystems are intended to act as broad surrogates for biodiversity within the Southern CRA Region. Note this dataset is no longer available (superseded by VIS_ID 3858). ; VIS_ID 3789

The pre-1750 and extant Forest Ecosystem maps of the Western sub-region comprise a number of different Generalised Additive Models (GAMs) and interpreted API and soils data. Within the extant vegetation area, expert botanists developed the map by assigning API polygons to vegetation groups, determined by an ecological classification process using PATN software. On cleared land, a combination of soils, GAMs, and classified site data was used to assign vegetation groups to distinct topographic and soil patterns. This hybrid expert and modelling approach was approved and signed off by a review team of expert botanists including two independents, one NPWS representative and one SFNSW representative. Seventy-six distinct ecosystems have been mapped in the pre-1750 map for this sub-region. The extant map was derived from the pre-1750 map by cutting it to the extant vegetation. The extant vegetation layer incorporates the vegetated API polygons from the CRAFTI project, RN17 mapping, and remnants. Seventy-two distinct ecosystems have been mapped in the extant map for this sub-region. (VIS_ID 3793; ANZLIC: ANZNS0208000145) This dataset has been superseded by "Forest Ecosystems: Vegetation of the Southern Forests. VIS ID 3858" available at https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/forest-ecosystems-vegetation-of-the-southern-forests-vis-id-3858-0a8ca

This data set contains standardized gridded observation data, terrestrial biospheric model output, and inverse model simulations that were compiled but not used in the North American Carbon Program (NACP) Regional Synthesis activities, thus the supplemental designation. The data set provides six (6) observation data packages (9 variables - MODIS LAI, MODIS FPAR, MODIS NDVI, MODIS EVI, FIA forest biomass, forest area, GPP Anomaly, NEE Anomaly, Reco Anomaly; 8 data files), output results from three terrestrial biosphere models (TBM) (14 variables; 214 files), and simulations from one inverse model (IM) (one variable; 1 file). To produce this data set, the NACP Modeling and Synthesis Thematic Data Center (MAST-DC) original data files were resampled to 1-degree spatial resolution for North American region (except for FIA Forest Biomass which was resampled to 0.5-degree resolution), interpolated into monthly or yearly temporal resolution, and reformatted into Climate and Forecast (CF) convention compatible netCDF format.