<p>Images are taken at sites across Australia by the TERN Ecosystem Surveillance team, using standardized AusPlots methodologies.<p /> <p> High-quality digital images are captured using a digital SLR camera at each rangeland vegetation plot. Three photopoints are established configured in an equilateral triangle (2.5&nbsp;m sides) with the center marked with a star dropper at the center of the plot, and the three photopoints recorded with GNSS/DGPS. At each photopoint a 360° panorama photographic sequence is taken, with up to 40 photographs with a minimum 50% overlap between consecutive photographs. The panoramic photopoint method may be most informative in open forests/woodlands and rangelands. <p /> <p>See AusPlots Rangelands Photo-panoramas for more information on this method.<p />

<p>This data set provides the photosynthetic pathways for 2428 species recorded across 541 plots surveyed by Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) between 2011 and 2017 (inclusive). TERN survey plots are 1 ha (100 x 100 m) permanently established sites located in a homogeneous area of terrestrial vegetation. At each plot, TERN survey teams record vegetation composition and structural characteristics and collect a range of plant samples using a point-intercept method. Species were assigned a photosynthetic pathway using literature and carbon stable isotope analysis of bulk tissue collected by TERN at the survey plots. </p><p>The data set is comprised of two data tables and one data descriptor that defines the values in the two data tables. The first table contains a list of each species and its photosynthetic pathway. The second table includes a list of all the peer-reviewed sources used to create this data set. </p><p>This data set will be updated on an annual basis as TERN’s plot network expands and new information becomes available. </p>