Overview and compatibility of Northern Territory plot-based vegetation data with the National Vegetation Classification System and future vegetation typologies
Donna Lewis
A D , Peter Brocklehurst B , Damian Milne C , Ian I. D. Cowie A and Nicholas Cuff A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Northern Territory Herbarium, Flora and Fauna Division, Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (DEPWS), Northern Territory Government, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT 0831, Australia. Email: ian.cowie@nt.gov.au; nicholas.cuff@nt.gov.au
B Land Assessment Branch, Rangelands Division, Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Northern Territory Government, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT 0831, Australia. Email: peter.brocklehurst@nt.gov.au
C Biodiversity Information Group, Flora and Fauna Division, Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Northern Territory Government, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT 0831, Australia. Email: damian.milne@nt.gov.au
D Corresponding author. Email: donna.lewis@nt.gov.au
Australian Journal of Botany 69(7) 468-477 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT20031
Submitted: 21 March 2020 Accepted: 5 November 2020 Published: 20 January 2021
Abstract
Plot-based vegetation data have been collected in the Northern Territory since the 1950s. The purpose of data collection broadly includes land resource and vegetation community mapping, flora surveys, habitat assessment for fauna surveys, rare and threatened species surveys, development assessment and monitoring. These datasets were stored in disparate database systems until 2012. Currently over 423 surveys, 69 000 geocoded plots, comprising almost 838 164 flora records, are maintained using a corporate database. The data are of varying degrees of attribute detail including floristics, structure, strata and associated environmental information. The original territory-wide standardised vegetation classification was based on the 1:1 000 000 vegetation mapping project where 112 broad vegetation types were described from 2245 plots using an intuitive appraisal of numerical analytical techniques. This approach continues to be used; however, a standard method would be desirable to classify plot data into meaningful vegetation types in the Northern Territory. The National Vegetation Information System (vegetation hierarchy) was used to qualitatively assess the level of detail of vegetation plot data. Only 9% of the plot data can be assigned to sub-association level, and 28% to the association level. In addition to reviewing the compatibility of plot data to the National Vegetation Information System, we also provide examples of how it can conform with the International Vegetation Classification.
References
Box P, Cox S, Simons B (2016) Vegetation site data information model and data exchange standard development, final report. (CSIRO Repository) Available at https://publications.csiro.au/publications/publication/PIcsiro:EP164395 [Verified 12 November 2020]Brocklehurst P, Gibbons A (2003) ‘The Northern Territory and Commonwealth of Australia information and analysis: NT vegetation site data inventory.’ (Northern Territory Department of Lands Planning and Environment: Darwin, NT, Australia)
Brocklehurst P, Gibbons A (2007) Developing a systematic taxonomy for Northern Territory vegetation communities: Part 1. NT vegetation compendium project. Technical Report 06/2015D. Land Assessment Branch, Department of Land Resource Management, Darwin, NT, Australia.
Brocklehurst P, Lewis D, Napier D, Lynch D (2007) Northern Territory guidelines and field methodology for vegetation survey and mapping. Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, Darwin, NT, Australia.
Brocklehurst P, Sparrow B, Wilson B, Clark M (2008) Scoping paper: a finer scale vegetation map for the Northern Territory. Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport, Palmerston, NT, Australia.
Brocklehurst P, Ocampo R, Kuo J (2011) NRETAS vegetation information system: design specifications version 2. Technical Report 02/2011D. Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport, Palmerston, NT, Australia.
Brown R (1810) ‘Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van Diemen.’ (J. Cramer: Weinheim, Germany) [Facsimile Edition, 1960]
Carnahan JA (1976) ‘Natural Vegetation. Atlas of Australian Resources’, Second Series. (Department of Natural Resources: Canberra, ACT, Australia)
Cassilles Southgate N (2015) Vegetation site data audit. Department of Land Resource Management, Rangelands Division, Land Assessment Branch, Palmerston, NT, Australia.
Chippendale GM (1972) Checklist of Northern Territory plants. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 96, 207–267.
Christian CS, Stewart GA (1953) General report on survey of Katherine-Darwin region. Series number 1. CSIRO Land Research, Melbourne, Vic., Australia
Christian CS, Stewart GA, Perry RA (1960) Land research in Northern Australia. The Australian Geographer 7, 217–231.
| Land research in Northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water (2012) ‘Australia’s Native Vegetation Framework’ (Australian Government, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities: Canberra, ACT, Australia)
Cowie I, Cuff N, Lewis D, Jobson J (2017) Checklist of the vascular plants of the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Herbarium, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Palmerston, NT, Australia.
Cronquist A (1981) ‘An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants’ (Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA)
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (2000) NVIS version 3.1 National Vegetation Information System, NT Data Compilation. ANZLIC identifier: 2DBCB771207006B6E040CD9B0F274EFE. Available at https://nrmaps.nt.gov.au/nrmaps.html [Verified 20 February 2020]
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (2017) Rangelands field monitoring manual, version 5: a guide to the collection of ground-based information at integrated monitoring sites. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Rangeland Monitoring Branch, Alice Springs, Katherine, Palmerston, NT, Australia.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (2020) Land clearing guidelines: Northern Territory planning scheme. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Palmerston, NT, Australia.
Ewart AJ, Davies OB (1917) ‘The Flora of the Northern Territory.’ (M’Carron, Bird & Co.: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Executive Steering Committee for Australian Vegetation Information (2003) Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual: National Vegetation Information System (version 6.0). (Department of the Environment and Heritage: Canberra, ACT, Australia) Available at http://www.environment.gov.au/erin/nvis/publications/avam/index.html [Verified 5 December 2019]
Faber-Langendoen D, Keeler-Wolf T, Meidinger D, Tart D, Hoagland B, Josse C, Navarro G, Ponomarenko S, Saucier J, Weakley A Comer P (2014) EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification. Ecological Monographs 84, 533–561.
| EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Faber-Langendoen D, Baldwin K, Peet RK, Meidinger D, Muldavin E, Keeler-Wolf T, Josse C (2018) The EcoVeg approach in the Americas: US, Canadian and international vegetation classifications. Phytocoenologia 48, 215–237.
| The EcoVeg approach in the Americas: US, Canadian and international vegetation classifications.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fensham RJ (2013) For the sake of science: Ludwig Leichhardt as botanist and ecologist. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Culture 7, 599–620.
Gellie NJH, Hunter JT, Benson JS, Kirkpatrick JB, Cheal DC, McCreery K, Brocklehurst P (2018) Overview of plot-based vegetation classification approaches within Australia. Phytocoenologia 48, 251–272.
| Overview of plot-based vegetation classification approaches within Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Guru S, Cox S, Chuc E, Schroeder T, Eliyahu M, Sun Y, Mahuika J, Sebastian A (2019) ‘Integration of plot-based ecological data: a semantic approach.’ (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), University of Queensland: Brisbane, Qld, Australia)
Jan D, Brocklehurst PS (2009) A prospectus for the development of 1 : 100 000 scale vegetation mapping for the Northern Territory: mapping the future. Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport, Land and Water Division, Greening Australia (NT), Natural Heritage Trust, Australia.
Lewis D, Brocklehurst P, Thackway R, Hill J (2008) Adopting vegetation guidelines and the national vegetation information system (NVIS) framework in the Northern Territory. Cunninghamia 10, 557–567.
Mabberley DJ (1985) ‘Jupiter Botanicus: Robert Brown of the British Museum.’ (J. Cramer, Braunschweig; British Museum (Natural History): London, UK)
Mabberley DJ (2008) ‘Mabberley’s Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants, their Classification and Uses.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
McDonald P, Nano C, Ward S (2014) ‘Update on 3-Parks Monitoring Program: West MacDonnell National Park – Phase 1 – April 2014. Report to Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT’ (Department of Land Resource Management: Alice Springs, NT, Australia)
Nano C, McDonald P, Ward S (2016) Update on 3-Parks Monitoring Program: Watarrka National Park – phase 1 – 2016. Report to Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT. Department Environment and Natural Resources: Alice Springs, NT, Australia.
Nano C, Stewart A, McDonald P, Randall D (2017) Update on 3-Parks Monitoring Program: Finke Gorge National Park – phase 1. Report to Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT. Department Environment and Natural Resources: Alice Springs, NT, Australia.
National Land and Water Resources Audit (2001) ‘Australian Native Vegetation Assessment, 2001.’ (NLWRA: Canberra, ACT, Australia)
Neldner VJ, Butler DW, Guymer GP (2017). ‘Queensland’s Regional Ecosystems. Building and maintaining a biodiversity inventory, planning framework and information system for Queensland’. Queensland Herbarium. (Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation: Brisbane, Qld, Australia)
Neldner VJ, Wilson BA, Dillewaard HA, Ryan TS, Butler DW, McDonald WJF, Addicott EP, Appelman CN (2020) ‘Methodology for Survey and Mapping of Regional Ecosystems and Vegetation Communities in Queensland’, version 5.1. Queensland Herbarium. (Department of Environment and Science, Brisbane, Qld, Australia)
NVIS Technical Working Group (2017) ‘Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual: National Vegetation Information System, version 7.0.’ (Eds MP Bolton, C deLacey, KB Bossard) (Department of the Environment and Energy: Canberra, ACT, Australia)
Russell-Smith J (2013) Three Parks Savanna fire-effects plot network: plot-based vegetation sampling data, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, 2013. (Long Term Ecological Research Network) Available at http://www.ltern.org.au/knb/metacat/datalibrarian.73.34/html [Verified 20 February 2020]
Russell-Smith J (2017) Three Parks Savanna fire-effects plot network: plot-based vegetation sampling data, Northern Territory, Australia, 1994+. (Long Term Ecological Research Network) Available at http://www.ltern.org.au/knb/metacat/ltern6.92.20/html [Verified February 2020]
Short P (2003) ‘In Pursuit of Plants: Experiences Of nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Plant Collectors.’ (University of Western Australia Press: Perth, WA, Australia)
Specht RL (1970) Vegetation. In ‘Australian Environment’, 4th edn. (Ed. G. W. Leeper) pp. 44–67. (Melbourne University Press: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Specht RL (1981) Projective foliage cover and standing biomass. In ‘Vegetation Classification in Australia’. pp. 10–21. (CSIRO: Canberra, ACT, Australia)
Sun D, Hnatiuk RJ, Neldner VJ (1997) Review of vegetation classification and mapping systems undertaken by major forested land management agencies in Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 45, 929–948.
| Review of vegetation classification and mapping systems undertaken by major forested land management agencies in Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thackway R, Neldner VJ, Bolton MP (2008) Vegetation. In ‘Guidelines for Surveying Soil and Land Resources’. (Eds NJ McKenzie, MJ Grundy, R Webster, AJ Ringrose-Voase) pp. 115–142. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Walker J, Hopkins MS (1990) Vegetation. In ‘Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook’, 2nd edn. (Eds RC McDonald, RF Isbell, JG Speight, J Walker, MS Hopkins) pp. 58–86. (Inkata Press: Melbourne, Vic., Australia)
Weed Management Branch, Northern Territory Government (2015) ‘Northern Territory Weed Data Collection Manual.’ (Northern Territory Government of Australia: Darwin, NT, Australia)
White A, Sparrow B, Leitch E, Foulkes J, Flitton R, Lowe AJ (2012) ‘AUSPLOTS Rangelands Survey Protocols Manual.’ (University of Adelaide Press: Adelaide, SA, Australia)
Wilson BA, Brocklehurst PS, Clark MJ, Dickinson KJM (1990) Vegetation survey of the Northern Territory Australia, Technical Report number 49. Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia.
