Biodiversity planning assessment - Desert Uplands

This dataset represents Version 1.3 of the Desert Uplands Biodiversity Planning Assessment.The Remnant Unit coverage used in the assessment process is based on the Queensland Herbarium Regional Ecosystem (RE) mapping Version 6b (November 2009).Biodiversity Planning Assessments are developed in two stages:1) Diagnostic Criteria, and2) Supplementary/Expert Panel Criteria.This coverage is the results for the completion of the stage 1 Diagnostic Criteria, and stage 2 supplementary Criteria. The stage 1 Diagnostic Criteria involved the integration of ecological Criteria using the Biodiversity Assessment and Mapping Methodology to determine the relative Biodiversity Significance. The stage 2 Supplementary Criteria allows for the refinement of the mapped information from stage 1 by incorporating local knowledge and expert opinion. The Biodiversity Assessment and Mapping Methodology (BAMM) has been prepared to provide a consistent approach for assessing biodiversity values at the landscape scale in Queensland using vegetation mapping data generated or approved by the Queensland Herbarium as a fundamental basis. It is being used by the Department of Environment and Science (EHP) to generate Biodiversity Planning Assessments (BPAs) for each of Queensland's bioregions.The methodology has application for identifying areas with various levels of significance solely for biodiversity reasons. These include threatened ecosystems or taxa, large tracts of habitat in good condition and buffers to wetlands or other types of habitat important for the maintenance of biodiversity or ecological processes. While natural resource values such as dryland salinity, soil erosion potential or land capability are not dealt with explicitly, they are included to some extent within the Biodiversity Status of REs recognised by EHP.