Predictive Flora and Fauna Habitat Modelling in the Gold Coast Local Government Area

Gold Coast City Council

We undertook predictive spatial habitat modelling of 10 flora and 22 fauna species within the Gold Coast City Council region.

The models developed were Generalised Additive Models (GAM) and were prepared using specialised modelling software running under the S+ statistical package with an extension in ESRI ArcView GIS.

The project involved expert review of data for the subject species and environmental characteristics of the area to develop spatial datasets for species records and environmental variables. The process analysed and modelled relationships between species locations and environmental variables. Spatial representations of the models were then generated in GIS (as a prediction surface in raster format) which indicated relative probability of the distribution of potential habitat.

The Gold Coast City Council plans to utilise the models for:

  • Conservation planning
  • Targeting species surveys
  • Development control
  • Reserve management.

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