The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal marsupial found throughout southeastern Australia. A high risk of extinction in some areas requires adherence to legislation mandating protection of high-quality habitat. The Koala primarily eats leaves of the Eucalyptus genus and wildlife managers are, in most cases, currently dependent on habitat maps depicting food resource availability derived from low-resolution regional-extent (~100,000 hectares) vegetation maps. These maps might not capture resource variability at planning extents (0.1–300 ha), or at resolutions where Koala ecology processes operate (5–50 ha). Consequently, potentially high-quality habitat may not be considered in planning decisions. Whether low-resolution habitat mapping adequately captures food resource variability is therefore relevant to map users at non-regional extents. We examined four different broad-scale low-resolution habitat maps within a small area (150 ha) in southeast Queensland and compared the classifications of each. Map units were generally ranked in the same hierarchical order; however, differences in methodologies meant that, between maps, some units varied widely in assigned habitat quality. Two maps were assessed using quantitative Queensland Herbarium data, and field data we collected. Assessment using overstorey species emphasised habitat quality differences between habitat map units better than the alternative whole-of-canopy method. Maps relying on interpretation of vegetation descriptions for habitat class definition sometimes overestimated food tree cover proportions and stakeholders need to be cognisant of these limitations. One method assigned Very Low Suitability to a 60-ha focal study site containing evidence of Koala use, and we strongly recommend that field validation should be an integral part of habitat management at these scales. We conclude that, rather than mapping approaches encompassing several habitat attributes within a single map, layered datasets, each with specific attributes, would provide greater utility for stakeholders by allowing them to use layers individually or in combination as required.

中文翻译：

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在多个决策尺度上混淆考拉栖息地测绘的因素

考拉（Phascolarctos cinereus）是一种在澳大利亚东南部发现的树栖有袋动物。某些地区的灭绝风险很高，需要遵守强制要求保护高质量栖息地的立法。考拉主要吃桉树的叶子在大多数情况下，属和野生动物管理者目前依赖栖息地地图，描绘源自低分辨率区域范围（约 100,000 公顷）植被图的食物资源可用性。这些地图可能无法捕捉规划范围（0.1-300 公顷）或考拉生态过程运行的分辨率（5-50 公顷）的资源变化。因此，在规划决策中可能不会考虑潜在的高质量栖息地。因此，低分辨率栖息地制图是否能够充分捕捉食物资源的变异性与非区域范围内的制图用户有关。我们在昆士兰东南部的一个小区域（150 公顷）内检查了四种不同的大比例低分辨率栖息地地图，并比较了每种地图的分类。地图单元通常按相同的等级顺序排列；然而，方法的差异意味着，在地图之间，某些单位在指定的栖息地质量方面差异很大。使用昆士兰植物标本馆的定量数据和我们收集的现场数据评估了两张地图。使用上层物种的评估强调了栖息地地图单元之间的栖息地质量差异，而不是替代的整体冠层方法。依赖于对栖息地类别定义的植被描述的解释的地图有时会高估食物树的覆盖比例，利益相关者需要认识到这些限制。一种方法将非常低​​的适宜性分配给一个 60 公顷的重点研究地点，其中包含使用考拉的证据，我们强烈建议现场验证应该是这些规模的栖息地管理的一个组成部分。我们得出的结论是，