Habitats serve a variety of functions on the North West Shelf (NWS). They support the life history stages of a diverse suite of tropical species including commercially harvested ones. In addition to natural disturbance regimes, habitats are altered in response to the sectoral uses, which in turn affects the distribution and life histories of species. Habitats thus serve as the nexus linking species with uses and natural disturbance, and different habitats serve different purposes at various stages of the life history of a species. A detailed understanding of habitats, at least at the structural level, is thus a prerequisite for a more comprehensive understanding of ecological structure and functions on the North West Shelf. This component of the North West Shelf Joint Environmental Management Study (NWSJEMS) aimed to collate and integrate data on habitats for the region of the North West Shelf extending from North West Cape to Port Hedland and from the coast to the 200 m isobath. The three main activities of the study were: Development of an integrated collection of information on habitats of the North West Shelf, including expert information; Application of the CSIRO Habitat Classification Framework to the data to determine the spatial nesting and structuring of habitat units on the North West Shelf; and Provision of the habitat structure classification for input into other models developed within NWSJEMS. This record describes data of key benthic marine ecosystems and habitats. These maps and descriptions of their component attributes were designed to assist the process modelling of the ecosystem and impacts of uses, as well as directly supporting planning and management by Western Australian agencies and industries.

This project used marine benthic imagery and fine-scale oceanographic data to refine existing models of the contemporary circumpolar distribution of Antarctic benthic biodiversity, and used oceanographic models developed in the ACEAS program to generate spatial predictions of the distribution of various aspects on benthic biodiversity and blue carbon under future climate scenarios. ***Access to data is currently embargoed, to be made available ~June 2026***

This dataset provides mapping of water bodies and wetland regional ecosystems at 1:100,000 scale across Queensland.

This dataset displays the reefs and shoals within Queensland maritime waters. Names have been sourced from numerous locations and attributes within the data describe the source of the names. Name sources include but not limited to: - Queensland Place Names Database - Great Barrier Reef Base Mapping - Geoscience Australia 1:100000 Topographic Mapping

This is a collection of polygons outlining signficant seagrass meadows around Arnhem Land, Kakadu and Gulf of Carpentaria coastal waters for the Northern Australia Marine Biodiversity Survey (NAMBS) project between 2003 and 2005. Data was collected from imagery and ground truthed by observers from helicopter and insitu sample grabs.

This is a high resolution survey (1:5,000 scale dataset) describing mapped vegetation communities for the Ludmilla Creek catchment area (within the City of Darwin, Northern Territory). (Vegetation Unit - A reasonably homogeneous part of the land surface, distinct from surrounding terrain with constant properties in landform and vegetation) This vegetation survey was undertaken in 1996. This dataset represents the vegetation on the ground at the time of the survey and reflects the data and methods used to create the mapped polygons. The dataset has been revised in 2015 to include community descriptions but has not been updated to reflect the vegetation on the ground. The Darwin Remnant Vegetation Survey is considered a more up-to-date representation of vegetation for this area.

This polygon spatial dataset describes the mangrove communities for Darwin Harbour and its environs and was surveyed at a mapping scale of 1:25 000. The associated report notes an area of approximately 20,400 hectares of mangroves in Darwin Harbour and describes ten main mangrove associations or communities. The data provides a basis for identifying the extent and distribution of mangrove communities for Darwin Harbour and its environs.

This polygon spatial dataset describes the mangrove communities for Bynoe Harbour and its environs. The original field survey was undertaken in 1998 at a mapping scale of 1:25,000. The associated report notes an area of approximately 24,000 hectares of mangroves in Bynoe Harbour and describes ten main mangrove associations or communities. The data provides a basis for identifying the extent and distribution of mangrove communities for Bynoe Harbour and its environs. Mangrove mapping was updated over this area in a 2016 survey. See metadata record for Mangrove Community Mapping - Charles Point to Gunn Point. www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/metadata/export_data?type=html&metadata_id=87F656131848A609E050CD9B214417E1

Location of the Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) outplant trial sites. This is part of a collaborative project between IMAS, The Nature Conservancy, CSIRO and NRM South to restore giant kelp forests in Tasmania.