Vegetation Condition Benchmarks describe the reference state to which sites are compared to score their site-scale biodiversity values or set goals for management or restoration. This file contains the most current vegetation condition benchmarks available in BioNet and associated information including: large tree threshold size; benchmark confidence; and the classification level at which benchmarks were created.

The ‘Vegetation Condition Benchmarks V1.2’ file contains benchmarks for the full combination of Bioregions in NSW (n=18) and vegetation classes for which data were available (n=95). There are therefore 1,710 different regional vegetation class (RVCs) rows of benchmarks contained (18x95). Many of these RVCs do not exist in the current landscape but were the product of the modelling approaches used for cover and richness (e.g. Subtropical Rainforests in the Australian Alps Bioregion). Approximately 650 RVCs are extant in the current landscape.

To view the four files that this dataset is derived from, refer to the 'Dataset relationship' section below.

For further details see Oliver I, Dorrough J, Yen JDL, McNellie MJ and Watson CJ (2019) Native Vegetation Integrity Benchmarks: Technical details supporting Static Benchmarks June 2019 (Version 1.2). Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.