NESP MBH A12: Australia’s Northern Seascape project

Data associated with outputs from the final report of the NESP MBH A12 report "Distribution and habitat suitability of Threatened and Migratory Marine Species in Northern Australia". The North Marine Bioregion is home to a diversity of threatened and data-poor marine species. In the absence of critical data on species’ distributions, population connectivity, and essential habitat, decision-making to progress the current ‘Developing the North’ agenda has the potential to negatively impact Matters of National Environmental Significance. Data compiled across multiple sources were used to model and map the distribution of 16 priority Threatened and Migratory marine species. The objective of the project was to improve the current data-poor species distribution maps held by DAWE to assist with policy decisions for these species. We used a spatial distribution modelling approach based on presence data for these species from 121 spatial datasets and associated, remotely sensed environmental variables. The output is a series of distribution maps to enhance decision-makers’ ability to assess potential impacts of development proposals in Northern Australia under the EPBC Act.