Roost Habitat Classification

The Queensland Wader Study Group (QWSG) has been undertaking counts of shorebirds at their high tide roosts in Moreton Bay since 1992. As part of these surveys, QWSG have developed a roost habitat classification system (Table 3.1). This classification system identified the major characteristics of the habitats used by shorebirds at high tide. This habitat classification system has been applied to high tide roosts throughout Queensland that have been surveyed by QWSG.

The roost habitat codes used to define all shorebird high tide roosts mapped by QWSG members. Each roost was defined by a combination of up to six of the habitat codes depending on its characteristics. For example, a roost on an open sandy beach would have a habitat code of TOCS, whereas a roost on a muddy spit in a brackish mangrove creek could have a code of TEBM.