This dataset provides understorey herbaceous biomass, ground cover and overstorey woody cover response to different fire regimes over a twenty year period at a grassland and open woodland in the tropical savannas of northern Australia. BOTANAL was used to assess understorey herbaceous biomass. Woody canopy cover was derived from digital analysis of oblique aerial imagery taken from a helicopter at the site in 1995 and again in 2013. Woody cover (tree basal area and canopy cover) was also assessed using a bitterlich gauge on BOTANAL ground based transects in 2009. The data could be used to calibrate models of herbaceous growth and woody cover change in response to long term fire. It may be useful for assessing climate change impacts on aboveground carbon sequestration. The fire regimes tested were of varying frequency (every 2, 4 and 6 years) and season (June vs. October) of fire compared to unburnt controls on woody cover and pasture composition. Sites were open to grazing by cattle.

A total of 53 native Australian species (52x C3, 1x C4) were sampled from 22 plant families and 7 growth forms along a transect in WA spanning 9.56 degrees latitude and 6.85 degrees longitude. Samples were collected using the nationally-accepted AusPlots Rangelands methodology. Samples were stored to preserve isotopic signatures and analysed using standard techniques for mass spectroscopy, including internationally-calibrated standards. Technical replicates of 13% showed very low drift (0.07).

A fox control program has been in place in Booderee National Park since 1999 with baiting occurring twice a year. From 2003 onwards baiting has been intensified, with baiting occurring once a month. Since 2003 monitoring has been undertaken to track trends in distribution and abundance of small-medium sized mammal species, in response to fox control. The dataset contains data on mammal species and numbers trapped in Booderee National Park, as well as a record of sex, weight, pes length, and presence of pouch young.

This dataset contains information on vegetation at a set of field sites along with associated environmental data extracted from spatial layers and selected ecological statistics. Measurements of vascular plants include species, growth form, height and cover from 1010 point intercepts per plot as well as systematically recorded absences, which are useful for predictive modelling and validation of remote sensing applications. The derived cover estimates are robust and repeatable, allowing comparisons among environments and detection of modest change. The field plots span a rainfall gradient of 129-1437 mm Mean Annual Precipitation ranging from aseasonal to highly seasonal. The dataset consists of a processed version the AusPlots Rangelands dataset with three components: 1) a site table with locality, environmental and summary ecology statistics for each plot; 2) a set of compiled point intercept records identified by individual hits, site visits and plots and; 3) a processed species percent cover against site/visit matrix for ecological analysis. The data have re-use potential for studies on vegetation properties in the Australian rangelands or as a species presence/absence dataset for testing ecological models. The dataset also provides opportunities for generic application such as testing community ecology theories or developing or demonstrating community ecology software, whether using the raw point by point intercept data or the derived percent cover matrix.