Title

Areas of Strategic Importance for Growling Grass Frog habitat 

Alternate title

MSA_BCS_GGF_ASI 

Purpose

The primary purpose of Areas of Strategic Importance mapping is to protect existing and potential breeding habitat within Growling Grass Frog conservation areas from incompatible uses. The Areas of Strategic Importance maps are intended to help planners and developers avoid and minimise potential impacts of proposed infrastructure on the critically important parts of the Growling Grass Frog conservation areas. Under condition 2 of the Commonwealth Government's approvals for urban development in Melbourne's growth corridors, actions resulting in a net loss of 'habitat' for matters of national environmental significance, which include Areas of Strategic Importance for GGF habitat, require the agreement of the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment. Guidance Note: Implementing the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for Melbourne's Growth Corridors (DELWP 2015a). Advisory note: subject to future updates, so make sure the latest version is used. 

Supplemental Information

Current Design Issues: Dispersal routes between breeding waterbodies have not been specifically identified, although they will be critical to the ability of Growling Grass Frog populations to interact and therefore the long term viability of the species. Growling Grass Frogs generally take the most direct route between waterbodies, so suitable dispersal habitat should be provided along these routes. They are generally included in the Terrestrial Habitat Buffer (2) but will need to be considered carefully in infrastructure approval processes. Related Documents: Growling Grass Frog Masterplan for Melbourne's growth corridors, August 2016. - null,Sub-regional species strategy for Growling Grass Frog, May 2013. - null 

Status

Completed  

Code

4283 

Maintenance and update frequency

As needed  

Topic category

• Society
• Biota
• Boundaries

Use limitation

None. Please note this dataset is subject to review. It is the responsibility of the data user to make should make sure that they are using the most up to date version of this dataset. An appropriate reference to the date of download of this data will ensure easy identification of the version in use. 

Classification

Unclassified  

Statement

Dataset Source: Buffers generated are based on waterbodies manually digitised from aerial imagery and guided by 0.5m contour data. Multiple year aerial imagery was used to identify waterbodies and instream pools, particularly wet years (2010), given that seasonal drying out of these waterbodies is common. Final buffers are cut against the conservation areas dataset (MSA_BCS_CONS_AREA). Dataset Originality: Derived 

Description

Collection Method: Derived 

Description

Each habitat type category was incorporated into the dataset using an importance hierachy, with Areas of Strategic Importance (1) being the highest and Other terrestrial habitat (3) being the lowest. 1. Areas of Strategic Importance were mapped by measuring: - 50 metres from the Normal Water Level of existing and, only within high priority reaches for investment in wetland creation, potential Growling Grass Frog wetland locations; and - 50 metres from the boundary of instream habitat such as permanent pools. 2. Terrestrial habitat buffers were mapped by measuring: - 50 metres from the boundary of Areas of Strategic Importance; and - 100 metres from the centreline of streams (VMHYDRO) where no instream habitat pools have been mapped. 3. Other terrestrial habitat beyond the first 100 metres. 

Classification

Unclassified  

Attribute Quality

Comments

Attributes are deemed correct at the time of publication and represent the various onground habitat classification types specified in the Growling Grass Frog Masterplan. 

Positional Accuracy

Comments

Buffers created are based on existing waterbodies and in stream pools identified from aerial photography and digitised in most cases using 0.5m contour data. Buffers around the location of proposed wetlands mapped using 0.5m contours as a guide. 

Conceptual Consistency

Comments

This dataset covers all Growling Grass Frog corridors identified in the conservation areas dataset (MSA_BCS_CONS_AREA), as presented in the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for Melbourne's Growth Corridors. All polygons are topologically correct without overlaps. 

Missing Data

Comments

Complete for all Growling Grass Frog conservation areas defined in the MSA_BCS_CONS_AREA dataset. 

Excess Data