Account-ready data: biodiversity in the Murray-Darling Basin. A data collection from the Regional Ecosystem Accounting Pilot projects

This collection comprises account-ready data for biodiversity in the Murray-Darling Basin, developed in the ‘Ecosystem Accounts for the Murray-Darling Basin’ project, one of two Regional Ecosystem Accounting Pilot (REAP) projects delivering ecosystem accounts at sub-national scales. The account-ready data in this collection are used to compile biodiversity accounts for the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The data provided are spatial layers of predicted status of different biodiversity features across the Murray-Darling Basin over time, prepared for use in ecosystem accounts. The biodiversity features for which account-ready data are provided are: nationally listed threatened species; waterbirds; vascular plants; reptiles; all birds; and several focal species (river red gum, lignum, royal spoonbill, straw-necked ibis). For all biodiversity features, annual patterns of expected (or potential) status were derived by combining remotely sensed data with information on expected patterns in biodiversity, incorporating field observation data. The status of all biodiversity features has been estimated annually, for each year from 2001 (or earlier) to 2018, using a common spatial grid of 100 m resolution covering the Murray-Darling Basin. These data align with other account-ready data prepared for the Murray-Darling Basin under the Regional Ecosystem Accounting Pilot projects, including for ecosystem extent, ecosystem condition and ecosystem services.