The NVIS vegetation attributes contain information on vegetation structure (growth form, height and cover) and floristics (genus and species) as documented in the Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual Version 7.0 (NVIS Technical Working Group, 2017).
The NVIS detailed Level 1-6 vegetation descriptions make up the NVIS Information Hierarchy and are used to assign the Major Vegetation Groups and Major Vegetation Subgroups classifications. The hierarchy is based on structural and floristic information including dominant genus, growth form, height and cover and are preferably collected at the Level 6 Sub-Association (sub-stratum) level. For many reasons including different scales and classification methods, not all data is collected at this level of detail. Currently there are over 19,300 distinct NVIS vegetation descriptions in the NVIS database. For more information refer to the Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual V7.0.
These detailed vector data products may be used at a regional scale and allow for more complex analyses when joined with the associated Lookup Table of Flat File. They are available in Present (Extant) and Estimated Pre-1750 (pre-European - where available) themes. Data is available under CC BY. It is recommended the datasets be used alongside the Key Layers to better understand the source data attributes such as differing scales, age of data etc.
For this update, Version 7.0, the extant datasets for Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Tasmania have been updated. An automated, data-driven procedure, followed by thorough manual checks, was undertaken to make any necessary updates to MVG/MVS assignments for Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Tasmania. Conversely, Queensland directly provided the MVG/MVS assignments for the state.
This dataset is not comparable with earlier versions of NVIS.
Reference: NVIS Technical Working Group (2017) Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual: National Vegetation Information System, Version 7.0. Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Prep by Bolton, M.P., de Lacey, C. and Bossard, K.B. (Eds)
USE INSTRUCTIONS
Datasets: the File Geodatabase contains the following information:
ItemExplanation NVIS6_0_AUST_PREThis dataset is a vector layer delineating the estimated pre-1750 native vegetation types across Australia NVIS6_0_LUT_AUST_DETAIL This table: is a lookup table containing NVIS Version 7.0 vegetation descriptions. The table contains a total of 19,519 NVIS vegetation types. NVIS6_0_LUT_AUST_FLATThis table is a lookup table containing NVIS Version 7.0 vegetation descriptions in a simpler, deconstructed table, allowing for improved analyses and use of the NVIS detailed vegetation descriptions. The table contains a total of 19,519 NVIS vegetation types.
Table Joins:
NVIS7_0_LUT_AUST_DETAIL This table joins to the NVIS 7.0 spatial data for all states and territories (NVIS_ID in this table to NVISDSC1 in NVIS7_0_AUST_EXT_[STATE] and NVIS7_0_AUST_PRE_[STATE] ). For complex analyses and to extract maximum information from NVIS spatial data, this LUT can also be linked to NVISDSC2-6. It is recommended that users refer to the Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual V7.0 for understanding of the NVIS hierarchy (Level 1-6 descriptions) - https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/publications/australian-vegetation-attribute-manual-version-7. Once this table has been joined, a simple display option is to use the field "NVIS7_0_LUT_AUST_DETAIL.MVG_NAME" (or MVS_NAME if preferred) which includes the names of the NVIS Major Vegetation Groups (MVGs). A legend or 'shadeset' for the MVGs and MVSs can be found packaged with the detailed vector data: NVIS7_0_AUST_EXT_[STATE] and NVIS7_0_AUST_PRE_[STATE].Use the field "MVG_NUMBER" or "MVS_NUMBER" for the symbology.NVIS7_0_LUT_AUST_FLAT For complex analyses and to extract maximum information from NVIS spatial data, this LUT can also be linked to NVISDSC1-6. This LUT is a deconstruction of the Level 5 string within the NVIS detailed data (for NVIS Level 1-6 strings use NVIS7_0_LUT_AUST_DETAIL) where provided by the state/territory (not all veg descriptions have Level 5/6). It is recommended that users refer to the Australian Vegetation Attribute Manual V7.0 for understanding of the NVIS hierarchy (Level 1-6 descriptions) and structural information - https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/publications/australian-vegetation-attribute-manual-version-7. A legend or 'shadeset' for the MVGs and MVSs can be found packaged with the detailed vector data: NVIS7_0_AUST_EXT_[STATE] and NVIS7_0_AUST_PRE_[STATE]. This table joins to the NVIS 7.0 spatial data for all states and territories (NVIS_ID in this table to NVISDSC1 in NVIS7_0_EXT_[STATE] and NVIS7_0_PRE_[STATE] ). For complex analyses and to extract maximum information from NVIS spatial data, this LUT can also be linked to NVISDSC2-6. Once this table has been joined, a simple display option is to use the field "NVIS7_0_LUT_AUST_FLAT.MVG_NAME" (or MVS_NAME if preferred) which includes the names of the NVIS Major Vegetation Groups (MVGs).
Retrieving data by state or territory: the first number of the NVIS_ID corresponds to a specific state or territory and can be used to subset the larger dataset
CodeExplanation 1 Australian Capital Territory 2 New South Wales 3 Northern Territory 4 Queensland 5 South Australia 6 Tasmania 7 Victoria 8 Western Australia
Symbology: To enable full Major Vegetation Group descriptions to appear in the legend in an ArcGIS Desktop map or ArcGIS Pro project, the following layer files will need to be imported and the symbology set using the relevant attribute field. Layer files are within the zipped package.
