The AEKOS Australian Vegetation sPlot dataset consists of high quality, well-described plot-based data extracted from the AEKOS (portal.aekos.org.au) on 11/11/2014. The data includes vegetation records for the following datasets: Australian Ground Cover Reference Sites Database, Biological Survey of South Australia - Vegetation Survey - Biological Database of South Australia, Atlas of NSW database: VIS flora survey module, Queensland CORVEG Database, TERN AusPlots Rangelands, Transect for Environmental Monitoring and Decision Making (TREND), AusCover Supersites SLATS Star Transects, Biological Survey of the Ravensthorpe Range (Western Australia).The portal's vegetation plot data was extracted using the portal's download feature to obtain the full extent of available data for the all datasets. In addition, an average cover value was calculated for each site using a slight modification of the ingestion scripts normally used to ingest the source data into AEKOS. The altitude values derived from a map layer using the site coordinates were obtained from the AEKOS index. Finally, land use and vegetation type were derived from map layers using the site coordinates. These data were loaded in different tables of a PostgreSQL database. Subsequently, two SQL queries were built to centralise the available data in two tables: table r_site containing the site specific data and table r_speciesobservations containing the individual data on observed specimen. A PostgreSQL backup file containing these two table was then built using the pg_dump tool. The dataset can be reused for contintental-wide or global synthesis of the cover of Australian vegetation.

The dataset accompanies the paper by Zemunik et al. (2016), which used the Jurien Bay dune chronosequence to investigate the changes in the plant community diversity and turnover in response to long-term soil development. The Jurien Bay chronosequence is located in the Southwest Australian biodiversity hotspot, in an area with an extremely rich regional flora. The dataset consists of both flora and soil data that allows all analyses presented in the paper (Zemunik et al. 2016) to be independently investigated. The dataset is an update to that previously supplied for a prior study (Zemunik et al. 2015; DOI 10.4227/05/551A3DDE8BAF8). The study used a randomised stratified design, stratifying the dune system of the chronosequence into six stages, the first three spanning the Holocene (to ~6.5 ka) and oldest spanning soil development from the Early to Middle Pleistocene (to ~2 Ma). Floristic surveys were conducted in 60 permanent 10 m × 10 m plots (10 plots in each of six chronosequence stages). Each plot was surveyed at least once between August 2011 and March 2012, and September 2012. To estimate canopy cover and number of individuals for each plant species within the 10 m × 10 m plots, seven randomly-located 2 m × 2 m subplots were surveyed within each plot. Within each subplot, all vascular plant species were identified, the corresponding number of individuals was counted and the vertically projected vegetation canopy cover was estimated. Surface (0-20 cm) soil from each of the 420 subplots was collected, air dried and analysed at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, for a range of chemical and physical properties: total and resin soil phosphorus; total nitrogen and dissolved organic nitrogen; soil total and organic carbon; exchangeable calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn) and sodium (Na); Mehlich-III extractable iron, magnesium, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn); and pH (measured in H20 and CaCl2). Nutrient-acquisition strategies were determined from the literature, where known, and from mycorrhizal analyses of root samples from species with poorly known strategies. Most of the currently known nutrient-acqusition strategies were found in the species of the chronosequence. Previous studies in the Jurien Bay chronosequence have established that its soil development conforms to models of long-term soil development first presented by Walker and Syers (1976); the youngest soils are N-limiting and the oldest are P-limiting (Laliberté et al. 2012). However, filtering of the regional flora by high soil pH on the youngest soils has the strongest effect on local plant species diversity (Laliberté et al. 2014). The update involved modification to species names due to taxonomic changes and the inclusion of additional soil analyses, not present in Zemunik et al. (2015). The additional soil variables (additional to DOI 10.4227/05/551A3DDE8BAF8) were exchangeable Ca, K, Al, Mg, Mn and Na, measured for all 420 subplots; and Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn, extracted in Mehlich III solution, for each of the 60 plots. References Laliberté, E., Turner, B.L., Costes, T., Pearse, S.J., Wyrwoll, K.H., Zemunik, G. & Lambers, H. (2012) Experimental assessment of nutrient limitation along a 2-million-year dune chronosequence in the south-western Australia biodiversity hotspot. Journal of Ecology, 100, 631-642. Walker, T.W. & Syers, J.K. (1976) The fate of phosphorus during pedogenesis. Geoderma, 15, 1-19. Zemunik, G., Turner, B.L., Lambers, H. & Laliberté, E. (2015) Diversity of plant nutrient-acquisition strategies increases during long-term ecosystem development. Nature Plants 1, Article number: 15050, 1-4. Zemunik, G., Turner, B.L., Lambers, H. & Laliberté, E. (2016) Increasing plant species diversity and extreme species turnover accompany declining soil fertility along a long-term chronosequence in a biodiversity hotspot. Journal of Ecology.

Microsatellite genotype data for 3 eucalypt species. Data include progeny and adults from across a gradient of habitat fragmentation. These microsatellite data could be further used in additional analyses, e.g. genetic diversity. Samples collected from stands on eucalypts as follows: non-neighbouring adult trees had leaf and seeds collected. Leaf was used to genotype the adults. Seeds were germinated, tissue then collected, and the same microsatellites genotyped - i.e. open-pollinated progeny arrays. The dataset is possibly useful for meta-analysis or review of effects of habitat fragmentation on plants (e.g. mating system, genetic diversity etc).

The dataset contains information on the abundance of hollow bearing trees in the Karawatha Peri-Urban site recorded from between 2006 and 2009. There is information on the tree species name, diameter at breast height, tree alive status, and a number of attributes related to the hollows, such as its location, height, length, width and the type.

<p>The dataset contains raw records on the frequency and % cover of Australian plant species stored in TERN's AEKOS as at 23 February 2017. There is information on basal area data in addition.The data includes plant records for the following datasets: [1] Australian Ground Cover Reference Sites Database, [2] Biological Survey of South Australia - Vegetation Survey - Biological Database of South Australia, [3] Atlas of NSW database: VIS flora survey module, [4] Queensland CORVEG Database, [5] TERN AusPlots Rangelands, [6] Transects for Environmental Monitoring and Decision Making (TREND) (2013-present) and the [7] TREND-Biome of Australia Soil Environments (BASE). </p> Soil samples for physical structure and chemical analysis (14 sites) throughout Australia were also incorporated in addition (starting 2013). The sites were: [1] AusCover Supersites SLATS Star Transects, [2] Biological Survey of the Ravensthorpe Range (Western Australia), [3] Biological Survey of South Australia - Roadside Vegetation Survey, [4] Biological Database of South Australia, [5] South-Western Australian Transitional Transect (SWATT), [6] Koonamore Vegetation Monitoring Project (1925-present), [7] Desert Ecology Research Group Plots (1990-2011) and Long Term Ecological Research Network (2012-2015), Simpson Desert, [8] Western Queensland, Australia (plants only) and [9] the TERN AusPlots Forest Monitoring Network - Large Tree Survey - 2012-2015. In total, 97,035 sites were extracted and downloaded for individual and population levels. The download package contains site location files, separate data files for individual and population levels, citation details for individual surveys and notes on how to interpret the download.

This one file dataset contains the information on the Long-haired rats (<i>Rattus villosissimus</i>) used in this study, i.e. data that was collected between October 2011 and May 2013. It contains the exact date (Date) for when a rat was released (Trip_type Release, Trip_number 0) or trapped (Trip_type = Seasonal Trapping, Trip >/= 1) in each of the two enclosures (Enclosure = Enclosure I or Enclosure II), as well as the treatments (Treatment regarding the access of cats into the enclosure: high_fence (no access for cats) or low_fence (access for cats), including information on a rats gender (Sex = M (for male) or F (for female), a rats weight (Animal_weight measured in g), body condition (Body_condition theoretically ranging from 1 (emaciated) to 5 (obese), but only categories 2 (underconditioned), 3 (well-conditioned) and 4 (overconditioned) were scored) and individual identification (PIT.ID) as well as whether they had been recaptured (New_firsttripcap_recap indicating whether the animal was new= released/ caught the very first time, was a firsttripcap = captured before, but first captured during a trapping session, or a recap = recaptured during the same trip).

The data set contains information on leaf ¹³C isotope composition studied on three species, <i>Maireana sedifolia</i>, <i>Ptilotus obovatus</i> and <i>Eremophila scoparia</i> from the core 1 ha Salmon Gum plot at the Credo, Great Western Woodland site.

Mating system and fitness data for families of <em>Eucalyptus socialis</em> grown in common garden experiments. Families collected across a fragmentation gradient. Open-pollinated progeny arrays were collected and reared in the common garden experiments. These open-pollinated progeny arrays were also genotyped at microsatellite loci to generate the mating system data. Data showed association between fragmentation on mating system, which in turn impacted fitness. Please contact owner prior to use.

Data is provided from three survey types: nocturnal drive-by monitoring; ground counts; and exit counts. The nocturnal drive-by monitoring dataset provides information on species presence/absence at 124 sites across Christmas Island. The ground count dataset provides information on numbers of bats observed roosting in trees at known camp sites; while the exit count dataset records counts of bats exiting from the respective camp sites.

Invertebrates dominate the animal world in terms of abundance, diversity and biomass and play critical roles in maintaining ecosystem function. Despite their obvious importance, disproportionate research attention remains focused on vertebrates, with knowledge and understanding of invertebrate ecology still lacking. Due to their inherent advantages, usage of camera traps in ecology has risen dramatically over the last three decades, especially for research on mammals. However, few studies have used cameras to reliably detect fauna such as invertebrates or used cameras to examine specific aspects of invertebrate ecology. Twenty-four Reconyx PC800 HyperfireTM cameras were deployed on 7th July 2016 at Main Camp and left until 12th October 2016 (98 days, or 2352 h of deployment) in the Simpson Desert, south-western Queensland, capturing 372 time-lapse images of Wolf spiders (Family Lycosidae). Images were tagged with camera location, position, angle, camera ID and presence of lycosids. Additionally, spotlight surveys were conducted in October 2016 every hour between dusk (19:30 h) and dawn (05:30 h) over three nights with a total of 352 lycosids observed. This data set was used to determine whether: 1) camera traps provide a viable method for detecting wolf spiders, 2) diel activity patterns of the spiders can be ascertained, and 3) patterns in spider activity vary with environmental conditions, specifically between burned and unburned habitats and the crests and bases of sand dunes. This data presents a useful example of the utility of cameras as a tool for determining the diel activity patterns and habitat use of larger arthropods such as wolf spiders. Please note: Camera trap images are not provided and only species occurrence records are included. Also, image files were renamed after collection, resulting in a number versus time conflict. However, dates and times of sightings provided are correct.