Habitat distribution models (HDMs) predict where suitable habitat may exist for a species, based in part on verified observations of the species in their natural environments. Victorian government has developed HDMs for almost all of Victoria’s terrestrial flora and fauna species, and this dataset includes the models for threatened species listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and/or the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Note some models have been deemed restricted by the department and are not included in this dataset.
The geotiff files are projected in the Vicgrid2020 coordinate system and have a cell size of 75x75 meters. These files can be viewed in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software such as ESRI's ArcGIS or the open-source QGIS. The cell values in the HDM are an index of predicted habitat suitability for the species. Higher values indicate areas of greater habitat suitability, and lower values indicate the opposite.
A spreadsheet is included in the download to provide metadata on the models and version control information. These models are updated periodically, and it is up to the user to ensure the most current version of the models are being used.
For more information Habitat distribution models, visit the following website: https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/spatial-data-foundation
User queries regarding Habitat distribution models can be emailed to: biodiversity.info@deeca.vic.gov.au