Marine Species Range Extensions from Citizen Science Observations, 2013–2022

NESP MaC 1.30 data from IMAS, JCU, and DPIRD assesses evidence for climate-driven marine species range extensions. The dataset contains historical poleward range limits and recent extralimital occurrences for 82 potential range-extending species around Australia, based on citizen science observations from Redmap, Reef Life Survey, and iNaturalist between 2013 and 2022. Confidence levels for each potential extension are qualitatively estimated based on species traits and evidence strength.

Use Cases

• Identify regions and species for focused monitoring based on evidence of poleward range extensions.
• Assess the role of citizen science data in detecting climate-driven biodiversity changes.
• Analyze the relationship between species traits (e.g., mobility) and confidence in observed range shifts.
• Compare range extension evidence across different Australian states (NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA).

Strengths

• Focuses on 82 potential marine species range extensions, providing a targeted assessment.
• Integrates data from three distinct citizen science platforms (Redmap, Reef Life Survey, iNaturalist) over a 10-year period (2013–2022).
• Includes qualitative confidence estimates (high, medium, low) for each potential range extension based on defined criteria.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and taxonomic bias inherent to the contributing citizen science programs.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality and structure require manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, aggregating data from Redmap, Reef Life Survey, and iNaturalist.

Collection Method

Historical range limits were established using distributional references up to 2012; extralimital occurrences were assessed from citizen science observations using a modified version of the Robinson et al. (2015) framework.

Time Range

Historical limits up to 2012; observation period 2013–2022.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 10:06:06.761074; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Marine areas around Australia, specifically NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, and WA.