NERP TE Project 3.4: Monitoring of Southern Cassowary and Spectacled Flying-Fox, 2011-2014

Monitoring programs for two key vertebrate species were implemented between 2011 and 2014. The project collected data on the endangered southern cassowary via dung surveys and DNA fingerprinting, and on the vulnerable spectacled flying-fox via monthly camp surveys in the Wet Tropics Region. Data was aggregated by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Estimate cassowary population abundance and distribution based on DNA fingerprinting of dung samples.
• Analyze the influence of habitat type on cassowary population structure and phylogeography.
• Track population size and trends of spectacled flying-foxes based on monthly camp survey data.
• Extend long-term population databases for spectacled flying-foxes in the Wet Tropics Region.

Strengths

• Project covers a defined time range from 2011 to 2014.
• Monitoring employs specific methodologies: DNA fingerprinting for cassowaries and monthly camp surveys for flying-foxes.
• Data builds upon a pre-existing long-term database for spectacled flying-foxes.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Cassowary monitoring via dung surveys and DNA fingerprinting; flying-fox monitoring via monthly surveys of known camps.

Time Range

2011-2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 22:20:14.193866; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Wet Tropics Region, Australia