Biological surveys

Biological surveys undertaken by scientific staff from the Department of Parks and Wildlife provide the scientific basis for many of the department’s decisions on conservation management. They are used to collect data on the distribution, ecological relationships and conservation status of Western Australian plant and animal species and the conservation significance of the lands and waters managed by the Department. They are conducted across a wide range of regions, and inform on patterns of biodiversity at local, regional and state-wide scales.

What we do

Key activities and projects

• Pilbara Region Biological Survey
• Kimberley Islands Biological Survey
• Floristic surveys of the banded ironstone formation ranges of the Yilgarn
• Floristic survey of the remnant heaths and woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain
• Biological survey of the Ravensthorpe Range
• Vegetation mapping in the Great Western Woodlands.

Related resources

Research information sheets

• Floristic surveys of the banded ironstone formation (BIF) ranges of the Yilgarn335.35 KB 
• Ravensthorpe Range Biological Survey 159.03 KB
• A biological survey of the Kimberley islands198.62 KB 
• Biodiversity values of Weeli Wolli Spring: a priority ecological community173.88 KB 
• Ephemeral clay-based wetlands of the South West301.74 KB
• Environmental associations of small ground-dwelling mammals in the Pilbara124.9 KB
• More...

Databases and websites

• NatureMap
  Access to more than three million records for over 33,000 species, subspecies and varieties.
• Pilbara Biological Survey database
  Documents all studies on flora, vegetation (including mangroves), vertebrate and invertebrate fauna both on offshore islands and the mainland Pilbara biogeographical region.
• SWALE — Surveying Western Australia’s Land Edge (within FloraBase)
  Floristics and vegetation structure in the form of reference transects in coastal areas of high conservation value.