About the Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS)
The Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) is a scientific monitoring program undertaken by the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation’s Remote Sensing Sciences team, in partnership with the Queensland Herbarium and Biodiversity Science, Department of Resources and the Joint Remote Sensing Research Program.
Satellite imagery and field data are used to monitor and report changes in woody vegetation extent in Queensland and provide information about other woody vegetation attributes such as foliage density and age since disturbance.
The SLATS monitors native woody vegetation, which is critical for maintaining biodiversity, preventing land degradation and improving water quality. However, due to the difficulty of differentiating between native and non-native woody vegetation using satellite imagery, non-native woody vegetation change is also included in SLATS. This may include exotic pine plantations, orchards or invasive exotic woody weeds.
Why SLATS reporting is important
The data from SLATS reporting supports vegetation management and environmental protection laws in Queensland. The data and information also support and inform a range of sustainable land management, biodiversity, and conservation initiatives, including the Great Barrier Reef 2050 Water Quality Program, fire management, conservation planning, the Land Restoration Fund, the Queensland Low Emissions Agriculture Roadmap, and growing natural capital markets such as carbon farming and environmental co-benefits.
SLATS’ science has informed the statewide monitoring of ground cover and fire scars, with SLATS methods also adapted for the Early Detection System. This is a proactive, early engagement, compliance tool used by the Department of Resources as part of its ongoing vegetation monitoring and compliance program.
Enhanced methodology and scientific capabilities
In recent years, a revised and enhanced methodology incorporating the latest satellite technology and scientific capabilities has been implemented to provide a more comprehensive and accurate representation of the state’s woody vegetation extent and changes to that extent due to clearing and regrowth.
The revised and enhanced methodology has introduced:
- a revised definition of woody vegetation as areas with a crown cover of greater than 10% and a stand size of at least 0.5ha. It includes native and non-native woody vegetation, and woody vegetation is included regardless of its height or age
- improved mapping of woody vegetation extent, as a baseline for ongoing monitoring, reporting and accounting (accounting is important to track the age and location of vegetation regrowth, and to capture the benefits this provides for biodiversity and carbon sequestration)
- improved annual monitoring and reporting of woody vegetation change due to clearing and regrowth, based on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery which captures imagery at a spatial resolution of 10m
- a vegetation condition assessment framework, called Spatial BioCondition that has been developed to map and monitor the BioCondition of Queensland’s terrestrial ecosystems.
The new methods were subject to a scientific peer review in 2021, led by the CSIRO. Due to these changes to the SLATS methodology, previous SLATS reporting—up to and including the 2017–18 SLATS report—is not comparable with any reporting released after that date.
Comprehensive monitoring and assessment framework
SLATS provides:
- a comprehensive vegetation monitoring, assessment, and reporting framework for Queensland
- a framework for accounting and reporting of vegetation extent change and associated biodiversity values across the state, and
- important foundational data products that can be used to support a range of environment and natural resource management applications.
SLATS is made possible by the Queensland Government’s investment in satellite imagery and computing technologies, as well as long-standing programs such as Regional ecosystem mapping and the BioCondition framework.
Combined, these initiatives provide a spatially and temporally comprehensive account of Queensland’s vegetation and ecosystems based on peer-reviewed science.
More information
- SLATS methodology—information about current and previous methodologies.
- Current SLATS reports—view current reports.
- Current SLATS data products—view and access the current series of data products.
- Previous SLATS reports—view and access previous reports, data products and publications.
Contact
- For general SLATS enquiries, email SLATS_enquiries@des.qld.gov.au
- Find more information about the Joint Remote Sensing Research Program.
- Contact the Department of Resources for enquiries about vegetation management in Queensland.