Biological records for key species in the Murray-Darling Basin

Biological records are provided for several focal species across the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The species considered were: river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis); lignum (Duma sp.); royal spoonbill (Platalea regia); straw-necked ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis); Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii); golden perch (Macquaria ambigua), and; shrimp (Macrobrachium australiense, Parataya australiensis, Caridina sp.). Observations of the occurrence, abundance and physiological condition for these species were collated from a variety of sources and harmonised to a single data file for each species.\nLineage: Methods\nFor each focal species, in-field biological observation data were collated from a variety of sources. Customised R scripts were written to collate and harmonise the data for each species, including standardisation of data fields. Some datasets provided more information than that retained in the final collated dataset, as our objective has to harmonise common data fields present across most of the datasets. Also, for several species additional data were obtained for the project under data license agreements that restrict inclusion in the data provided here (e.g. Murray cod, golden perch, lignum).\n\nData products\nFor each species, a data file is provided, along with a metadata file, describing the fields used. The common name of the species are used in the file names.\n\nFor further information, also see:\nMokany, K., Peel, D., Ponce Reyes, R., Foster, S.D., Stratford, D.S., McGinness, H.M., Zampatti, B., Nicol, S., Freebairn, A.C., McInerney, P.J., Sengupta, A. (2024) Dynamic habitat modelling for water-dependent species in the Murray-Darling Basin. Ecological Indicators, 160, 111801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111801