Coral Sea Islet Bird and Vegetation Survey, July 2021

An environmental assessment of 25 islets and cays in the Tregrosse and Lihou Reefs within the Coral Sea Marine Park, conducted in July 2021. The dataset includes bird population surveys and vegetation community mapping for nine vegetated cays, based on ground counts and drone imagery. It was produced by Parks Australia and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

Use Cases

• Analyze seabird population distribution based on species lists including great frigatebird and sooty tern.
• Map vegetation community extent using GPS coordinates and high-resolution drone imagery mentioned in the description.
• Compare plant species richness between Diamond Islets and Lihou Reef cays based on the recorded totals of 16 and 8 native species.
• Assess breeding site quality for small tern species based on the description of minimal human disturbance.

Strengths

• Surveys cover 25 specific islets and cays, providing a detailed geographic scope.
• Data includes GPS coordinates and site photographs for approximately 200 survey sites.
• Drone imagery was used to refine vegetation mapping, suggesting spatial accuracy.
• A total of 16 native plant species were inventoried across the surveyed cays.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Access for research is described as limited due to logistics and weather, which may constrain data collection frequency.

Provenance

Source

Parks Australia and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service

Collection Method

Ground surveys and drone imagery capture during a July 2021 voyage.

Time Range

July 2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-15 02:10:51.452801; freshness should be verified.

Geography

25 islets and cays in the Tregrosse and Lihou Reefs, Coral Sea Marine Park, Australia