Ecological Communities State Lists - 12 Oct 2020

Explanatory Notes for Ecological Communities of National Environmental Significance

The data is comprised of ecological communities currently listed under the EPBC Act, indicative occurrence in States and Territories, and links to further information in the Species Profiles and Threats database (SPRAT).

Column name      Description
-----------      -----------
Community        The name of the listed ecological community (EC).
EPBC Status      The category under EPBC Act, i.e. Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable.
Date Effective   The date the EC listed became effective.
ID               The SPRAT EC identifier under which the community is listed under the EPBC Act.
ACT              The EC is indicated to occur in the Australian Capital Territory
NSW              The EC is indicated to occur in New South Wales
NT               The EC is indicated to occur in the Northern Territory
QLD              The EC is indicated to occur in the Queensland
SA               The EC is indicated to occur in South Australia
TAS              The EC is indicated to occur in Tasmania
VIC              The EC is indicated to occur in Victoria
WA               The EC is indicated to occur in Western Australia
Profile          The internet address of the public SPRAT EC profile.
Date Extracted   The date the data was extracted from the SPRAT database.

Note: Yes for state indicates community is known or may occur in the state.

How the data is compiled

The data is compiled by a computer program developed by the Environmental Resources Network (ERIN) that draws directly from the SPRAT database. The Ecological Community name and status are the same data used to automatically produce the EPBC Act List of Threatened Ecological Communities and individual community profiles.

The lists of ecological communities for each state are also contained in the SPRAT database. These lists were initially derived as a snapshot by spatially overlaying state/territory boundaries with the indicative ecological community mapping that underlies the Protected Matters Search Tool. Procedures are implemented to update indicated presence on state/territory lists as distribution mapping is revised.

As minor spatial boundary mismatches may spuriously indicate the presence of a community in a state, the prospective lists have been reviewed by the Ecological Community Section and adjustments made to match the information published by the department about a national Ecological Community’s definition and distribution (including what is said within legal instruments, listing/conservation advices, recovery plans, and policy statements/guidelines). The adjustments are documented in the indicative state Ecological Community lists.

The data is automatically updated when changes to any of the fields are made in the database.