There are presence absence records for vegetation and matched hydrological data from 687 1 x 1 m quadrats recorded from 11 wetlands and wetland complexes (28 sampled hydrological gradients (referred to as transects) across the upper and lower southeast of South Australia. Plant data were collected in spring 2013. Hydrological monitoring data at each site consisted of continuous (6 hourly) surface water level data from a state agency monitoring network. Observed water levels at the monitoring instrument on the day of monitoring were related to the observed depth of water at each quadrat, assuming a flat, level water surface and obtain a datum for each quadrat relative to the monitoring instrument. The continuous monitoring record was then used to calculate a range of different hydrological predictors indicating the variation at each quadrat. The hydrological dataset provided are the univariate summary statistics recording different aspects of surface water dynamics for each quadrat. Hydrological predictors (sum-exceedance value, hydroperiod and maximum inundation depth) were calculated for annual and seasonal periods in the three-years prior to plant data collection. See metadata and relevant publication for additional details on calculation. Hydrological predictors for each quadrat are provided in a single matrix of sites by predictors, with relevant location details for the quadrat (xy coordinates, site, transect). Included is a single electrical conductivity class for each transect (ordinal variable - low moderate, high - see metadata). Vegetation data are provided as a single matrix (quadrats x plant functional group) showing presence absence of each functional group in each quadrat. There is also a lookup table giving the assignment of each plant species to a plant functional group.

River sites were sampled during the summers of 2008/09 and 2009/10 in a survey designed to identify correlations between commonly used river condition variables and grazing land-use. Potential stream sites in northern Tasmania were screened by catchment size, northing and slope, and according to attributes aimed at minimising confounding variables, maintaining broad consistency in landscape and geomorphological context, and promoting independence among sites. A set of 27 survey sites was selected across a gradient from low to high proportion of land under grazing in their upstream catchments. Catchment sizes varied from 20-120 km2 and proportion grazing from 0-80%. Macroinvertebrates were sampled using Surber sampler. All macroinvertebrates within a 20% sub-sample identified to family and counted, with individuals from the insect orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera identified to genus/species (by Laurie Cook, UTAS). Algal abundance was estimated at each site as the proportion of algal cover and as areal density of benthic chlorophyll a. Physical data variables collected were: water temperature, conductivity, turbidity, pH, total alkalinity, nitrate+nitrate, dissolved reactive phosphorus, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, overhead shading, the proportion of fine sediments within the sampled riffle zone, accumulated abstraction index and accumulated regulation index. For more information see: See Magierowski RH, Read SM, Carter SJB, Warfe DM, Cook LS, Lefroy EC and Davies PE. Inferring landscape-scale land-use impacts on rivers using data from mesocosm experiments and artificial neural networks. PLOS ONE.