ACT wetland mapping, classification and assessment: November 2016 (Third Edition)

Brief description

This product is the result of wetland mapping, classification and an assessment of climate change impacts on wetlands in the ACT to determine their climate change vulnerability. It comprises two datasets: the classification (HGL_ACT_Wetland_Class_Nov_2016) and the assessment (HGL_ACT_Wetland_Assess_Nov_2016). The assessment uses the management areas developed in the ACT HGL framework project as planning units (Cowood et al. 2016 - Expansion of landscape characterisation methods within the Hydrogeological Landscape Framework: application in the Australian Capital Territory). Mapping of management areas allows for detailed hazard assessments to understand the patterns in the chosen variables, facilitating management within the HGL framework and consideration of landscape setting when identifying suitable locations to undertake management actions.

The wetland mapping is a compilation of existing spatial layers and API validation, with classification as per the Australian National Aquatic Ecosystem Framework (AETG 2012). The wetland assessment uses the current (1990-2009) and near future (2020-2039) time periods from the NARCliM Project (Olson et al. 2014 - NARCliM Climatological Atlas. NARCliM Technical Note 4), but individually assesses consensus, wet-cool extreme and dry-hot extreme scenarios. Variables used in this assessment represent indicators of current anthropogenic pressure, future hydrological change in water sources and losses and future ecological change in vascular plant and amphibian communities. Statistical methods are used to group wetlands that are projected to experience similar levels of change in the future determining their climate change vulnerability and the principle components of change driving the variability. The variables are first attributed to the management areas across the ACT and then allocated to wetlands located within each management area. Hydrological change variables were refined for individual wetlands considering the unique water balance equations.