Cassowary Density and Abundance in Australia's Wet Tropics, 2014

CSIRO's NERP TE 3.4 project produced a dataset containing the estimated distribution and abundance of Southern Cassowaries (Casuarius casuarius) across the Wet Tropics Region of Australia. The data is based on field surveys along 157 transects from 2012 to 2014, with density estimates derived from faecal-DNA analysis of dung samples. The dataset includes high-resolution and simplified geospatial shapefiles mapping 23 sub-regions defined by essential cassowary habitat.

Use Cases

• Modeling cassowary population density based on faecal-DNA encounter rates mentioned in the description
• Identifying key conservation areas based on estimated density and abundance across 23 sub-regions
• Analyzing the relationship between essential habitat mapping and cassowary distribution
• Creating regional conservation maps using the provided simplified or high-resolution geospatial polygons

Strengths

• Data is based on systematic field surveys along 157 transects conducted from 2012 to 2014
• Population estimates are derived from individual identification via DNA fingerprinting of dung samples
• Provides both a high-resolution original shapefile (452 polygons) and a simplified version (23 polygons) for different mapping scales

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• The scale difference between fine habitat boundaries and the 23 regional summaries needs careful interpretation, as noted in the eAtlas limitations
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download

Provenance

Source

CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) under the NERP TE 3.4 project, provided via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Field surveys recording cassowary signs, collection of dung samples, and faecal-DNA analysis for individual identification. Density was estimated based on the relationship between dung encounter rates and density at 8 focal sites.

Time Range

2014 (surveys conducted 2012-2014)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 14:55:43.190993; freshness should be verified

Geography

Wet Tropics Region of Australia, divided into 23 sub-regions based on estimated essential cassowary habitat.