NSW Habitat Link Value Index: Terrestrial Connectivity Model for New South Wales

A 90 x 90 meter resolution raster dataset estimating the relative contribution of each location to terrestrial habitat connectivity across New South Wales. The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water created the index using a multi-scale habitat link value analysis based on the NSW Habitat Intactness Index. Data are available annually from 2017, with a typical two-year lag for the most recent layer.

Use Cases

• Mapping ecological connectivity networks based on the modeled link value index.
• Identifying potential wildlife corridors for species movement based on high HLV values.
• Informing regional conservation planning by visualizing areas that contribute to habitat connectivity.
• Assessing changes in connectivity contribution over time using the annual time series.

Strengths

• Statewide coverage of New South Wales at a consistent 90-meter pixel resolution.
• Pixel values are normalized on a 0.0 to 1.0 scale for relative comparison.
• Annual time series starting from 2017 provides a basis for temporal analysis.
• Explicit null value (-9999) for handling missing data.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data has a two-year time lag, which may limit real-time applications.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Collection Method

Created using the NSW Habitat Intactness Index as input to a multi-scale habitat link value (Li) analysis, mapping least cost paths between habitats.

Time Range

Annually from 2017 onward

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-18 07:25:47.381518; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New South Wales, Australia