A National-Scale Assessment of Bare-Nosed Wombat (Vombatus ursinus) Distribution Patterns, Using Multisource Data

Current understanding of bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) distribution has focused on specific regions, and human-wombat issues (e.g., burrowing leading to undermining fence integrity and roadkill). As their long-term monitoring across broad spatial scales is limited by available resources, this study aimed to produce a national scale predicted habitat suitability map for the bare-nosed wombat relying on the MaxEnt model. We analysed data from government databases the WomSAT citizen science tool, and field data from 12 sites across New South Wales. The study evaluated the major environmental characteristics (e. g. soil type and land use) that influenced the modelling and discussed occurrence in relation to these characteristics. A total of 36,210 data points reported after 2020 were used to run the model. Highly suitable habitats are mainly located in the Sydney Basin, South Eastern Corner, and South Eastern Highlands, but is scattered with limited predictions in Tasmania and the border between Victoria and South Australia. Soil and land use were identified as the key variables influencing wombat presence. Wombats are distributed in grazing land and protected areas, with a preference for Mb2, Me1 and Mw1 soil units. We encourage extending the protected area network in habitats deemed highly suitable for wombats, long-term monitoring and implementation of effective measures to mitigate human-wombat conflicts to support wombat conservation. When appropriate bias correction approaches are incorporated, the use of the MAXENT habitat model developed in this study could incorporate presence only, limited or uneven data sets for a range of terrestrial species to improve large-scale distribution assessments and conservation planning.