<p>This dataset lists land surface characteristics observed in Rangeland sites across Australia by the TERN Ecosystem Surveillance team, using standardised AusPlots methodologies.</p> <p>Land surface observations are collected at each site as part of the AusPlots method. At each site, observations on ground cover, lithology, erosion (state, extent, and human accelerated), surface drainage, microrelief, aspect and angle are recorded as part of the Ausplots Ground cover and Plot description methods.</p>

<p>The Biological Databases of South Australia (BDBSA) is South Australia's flora and fauna database that stores and manages specimen and observation records. This record is a subset, focusing on the methodology known as the 'Biological Survey of South Australia Vegetation Surveys' and forms an important component of the BDBSA. This dataset includes vegetation structural attributes, observations on individual plants such as stem diameter, growth form, plant height, and plant community measures such as crown density, canopy cover, as well as plant occurrence data. Preliminary data associated with site description that include soil and landform related parameters are also included in this record. The resulting dataset provides a comprehensive record of plant diversity across sites ground-truthed during a diverse range of biological survey projects undertaken in South Australia and provides a basis for future updating of mapping or other relevant work such as species modelling.</p> <p>Only validated BDBSA data is made publicly available and all records of sensitive taxa have been masked from the dataset. Data is accessible from the TERN Data Infrastructure, which provides the ability to extract subsets of vegetation data across multiple data collections and bioregions for more than 31 variables including stem diameter, tree crown extent, and number of individual plants.</p>

<p> TERN Ecosystem Surveillance is a plot-based field monitoring platform that tracks the direction and magnitude of change in Australia’s environments. Information on soils and vegetation is collected according to standardized, widely endorsed and consistent protocols across all plots, and includes the collection of soil and vegetation samples for subsequent analysis.</p> <p>Data collected by TERN is stratified across the entire continent to ensure adequate coverage of major Australian ecosystems, and measures are repeated at least once a decade, with the aim to establish replicate plots throughout the ecosystem types existing within Australia’s Major Vegetation Groups (MVG’s). Additional plots located in key environmental transition zones will be re-measured every five to ten years.</p> <p>TERN users include researchers, land managers and policy-makers who require access to terrestrial ecosystem attributes collected over time from continental scale to field sites at hundreds of representative locations. TERN provides model-ready data that enables users to detect and interpret changes in ecosystems. In addition, TERN curates The TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection, with over 180,000 vegetation and soil samples (and associated contextual environmental data), available to loan through the EcoPlots Samples portal via an Expression of Interest.</p> <p>TERN’s world-class surveillance monitoring infrastructure will support long-term ecological inventory, environmental monitoring, environmental prediction, reporting and assessment, and underpin decisions about our greatest environmental challenges.</p>