Williams Wet Tropics Vertebrate database 

This database contains occurrence data for vertebrates across the Australian Wet Tropics. Species occurrence point data has been collected during field intensive surveys using a variety of sampling methods as well as from the literature and institutional databases. The records are divided into two tables: Misc_records and STD_records. The first contains records collated opportunistically, as well as records collected from literature. The latter is a collection of standardized surveys conducted by Steve E. Williams (JCU). All occurrences were vetted for positional and taxonomic accuracy, and for sensitivity at the state and national levels. Sensitive species records are withheld or have their location generalised following sensitive species rules for processing these records.  

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. This work was jointly funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project, and the Queensland Government Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund (RICF).
Major contributors to funding the data collection include Australian Research Council, CRC-Rainforest, Marine & Tropical Science Research Facility, Earthwatch Institute, James Cook University, National Environmental Research Facility, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Queensland Government, Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service, Wet Tropics Management Authority & TERN.  

These data are collected to gain a deeper understanding of the distribution of vertebrate species across the Australian Wet Tropics. The data can be leveraged to gain a broader understanding of the realized and fundamental niche of vertebrates in this area, as well as their shifts under present and future environmental change. 

Data were collated on the vertebrate species present within 23 zones defined by Winter et at. 1984: (Winter, J. W., Bell, F. C., Pahl, L. I. and Atherton, R. G. (1984). The specific habitats of selected northeastern Australian rainforest mammals. Report to the World Wildlife Fund, Sydney, Australia.) from a wide range of sources, including published fauna surveys, ecological papers, published monographs on the Wet Tropics, unpublished internal reports from CSIRO, Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, James Cook University, Wet Tropics Management Authority, records of the Queensland Museum, CSIRO records, records of amateur naturalist groups and the personal records of a number of professional biologists currently working in the Wet Tropics.