Alpine Redspot Dragonfly Predicted Distribution in New South Wales

Austropetalia tonyana is a moderate-sized dragonfly with larvae 32-35mm long and adults 70-80mm long, restricted to mountainous regions below 35°S and above 600–1,800 meters in NSW. The NSW Department of Primary Industries created this predicted current distribution using MaxEnt species distribution modeling on records post-1994, integrated with hydrological and geomorphic data. The dataset represents the indicative range of this endangered habitat specialist, which requires rocks, logs, and moss within waterfall splash zones.

Use Cases

• Predicting suitable habitat for Alpine Redspot Dragonfly conservation based on described elevation and waterfall proximity requirements.
• Analyzing species distribution changes over time using records collected since 1994.
• Integrating hydrological and geomorphic stream attributes for ecological niche modeling.
• Assessing the impact of environmental changes on a habitat-specialist insect population.

Strengths

• Model integrates 30 stream variables and 65 River Style categories for environmental characterization.
• Records are temporally filtered, using only observations after January 1, 1994, for current distribution.
• Data is built upon the Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric V2, a fully connected national stream network.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The model is based on presence-only records, which may not fully capture absence data or detection probability.

Provenance

Source

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD)

Collection Method

MaxEnt 3.3.3 species distribution modeling applied to collated presence records, associated with hydrological network and River Styles geomorphology attributes.

Time Range

Records primarily from 1994 onward, used for current distribution modeling.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-13 02:17:22.808741; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New South Wales, Australia, specifically mountainous regions below 35°S and above 600–1,800 meters elevation.