• TERN Geospatial Catalogue
  •   Search
  •   Map

TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Background to Collection

In the mid-1920's Professor Theodore George Bentley (TGB) Osborn, Professor of Botany in the University of Adelaide, put forward strong scientific arguments concerning the lack of knowledge of the ecology of arid zone vegetation, and the effect of grazing on it (Osborn, 1925). In 1925 negotiations proceeded between the University of Adelaide and Messrs Hamilton Wilcox Ltd to secure a parcel of land for the purposes of research on Koonamore Station, a sheep-grazing property approximately 400 km north-east of Adelaide. A parcel of land of around 390ha was identified and fenced to exclude rabbits and other stock. The area was originally referred to as the Arid Region Flora Reserve but later was named the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve after its founder. For simplicity it is commonly referred to as the Koonamore Vegetation Reserve.

<br></br>


<p>This record is a collection of flora and fauna observations conducted in the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve (or Koonamore Vegetation Reserve). </p>


<br></br>These records are organised accordingly :<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">

<li><a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/90a26f3a-cf42-41e5-ada4-9b0166b15b09 ">Vegetation Quadrats</a></li>

<li> <a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/05f37d50-935e-4a0a-b45e-cb1b606ce476 ">Photopoints</a></li>

<li> <a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/c593e881-ddb4-408a-ba5d-6a5f9d258b39 "><em>Cassia</em> Corner</a></li>

<li><a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/aff278df-c8e8-41ab-b22e-66ea7d466169 "><em>Myoporum platycarpum</em> plant individuals</a> </li>

<li><a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/615b121a-3c4f-41b5-90f6-1b7e95ce7a9d ">Saltbush Transects</a></li>

<li><a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/d3e676a3-bf84-439f-ae99-0ce631ec6d64 ">Senna Populations</a></li>

<li><a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/dfe1b721-19c1-4f88-91c3-23f438c6f 531">Kangaroo Transects</a></li>

<li><a href=" https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/e6448738-d870-432d-9795-955c90f6ee6e ">Rabbit Warren Monitoring</a> </li>

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
1907-07-16
Date (Publication)
2025-07-10
Date (Revision)
2025-12-11
Edition
2

Publisher

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
+61 7 3365 9097

Editor

University of Queensland - Specht, Alison (Associate Professor)
Chancellors Place, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
St Lucia
Queensland
4072
Australia

Custodian

University of Adelaide
Waite Road, Waite, South Australia, 5064, Australia
Waite
South Australia
5064
Australia

Author

University of Adelaide
Waite Road, Waite, South Australia, 5064, Australia
Waite
South Australia
5064
Australia

Co-author

University of Queensland - Specht, Alison (Associate Professor)
Chancellors Place, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
St Lucia
Queensland
4072
Australia
Website
https://www.tern.org.au/

Purpose
In the mid-1920's Professor Theodore George Bentley Osborn, Professor of Botany in the University of Adelaide, put forward strong scientific arguments concerning the lack of knowledge of the ecology of arid zone vegetation, and the effect of grazing on it. In 1925, a parcel of land of around 390 ha was identified in Koonamore Station in South Australia and fenced to exclude rabbits and other stock, and Mr Wilcox, one of the directors, had a three-roomed house erected to serve as a field laboratory. The area was originally referred to as the Arid Region Flora Reserve but later was named the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve after its founder. For simplicity it is commonly referred to as the Koonamore Vegetation Reserve. There have been some unwanted animal incursions over the years, but these have been rare. In 1931, for example, rabbits were able to enter due to fence damage. Kangaroos and emus are not fully excluded. As is clear from the objectives stated by TGB Osborn, the reserve was to provide the basis for systematic measurements of the now-protected vegetation. Osborn and his team (including Prof. J.G. Wood and Mr Terry Paltridge) set up a series of quadrats (square plots) and photopoints within the reserve. A series of transects was later added. All of the foregoing were permanently marked, and observations on species occurrence (presence and abundance) and physical measurements of the plants were made repeatedly, but at varying intervals.
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Credit
Acknowledgement is due to all the students, staff and researchers who have collected data at the site since its establishment, to those who have entered the data, and to the support of funders and interested parties, including the University of Adelaide.
Status
On going

Point of contact

University of Adelaide
Waite Road, Waite, South Australia, 5064, Australia
Waite Road
Waite
South Australia
5064
Australia

Point of contact

School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide
Waite Road, Waite, South Australia, 5064, Australia
Waite Road
Waite
South Australia
5064
Australia
Topic category
  • Environment
  • Biota

Extent

Description
The Reserve is located in the Koonamore Station, a sheep-grazing lease 400 km north-east of Adelaide, South Australia in predominantly chenopod shrubland with mean annual rainfall of about 200mm.
N
S
E
W


Temporal extent

Time period
1907-07-16
Title
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Location Maps 2025 v1
Website
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Location Maps 2025 v1

Related documentation

Title
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Georeferences 2025 v1
Website
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Georeferences 2025 v1

Related documentation

Title
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Species List 2025 v1
Website
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Species List 2025 v1

Related documentation

Title
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Publications 2025 v2
Website
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Publications 2025 v2

Related documentation

Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned
GCMD Science Keywords
  • ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS
  • GRAZING DYNAMICS / PLANT ECOLOGY
  • ANIMAL ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR
  • VEGETATION COVER
  • GRAZING DYNAMICS/PLANT HERBIVORY
  • INVASIVE SPECIES
  • SPECIES DISTRIBUTION
  • SPECIES RECRUITMENT
ANZSRC Fields of Research
  • Ecology
  • Population ecology
  • Terrestrial ecology
  • Animal behaviour
  • Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology
  • Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
TERN Platform Vocabulary
  • TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve
TERN Parameter Vocabulary
  • scientific name
  • Unitless
  • plant count
  • Number
  • crown diameter (NS)
  • Centimetre
  • crown diameter (EW)
  • Centimetre
  • sex
  • Unitless
  • plant mortality
  • Unitless
  • plant height
  • Centimetre
  • animal life stage
  • Unitless
  • warren count
  • Number
  • goat pellet count
  • Number
  • sheep pellet count
  • Number
  • animal scat count
  • Number
  • fresh scat count
  • Number
  • old scat count
  • Number
QUDT Units of Measure
  • Unitless
  • Number
  • Centimetre
  • Centimetre
  • Unitless
  • Unitless
  • Centimetre
  • Unitless
  • Number
  • Number
  • Number
  • Number
  • Number
  • Number
GCMD Horizontal Resolution Ranges
  • < 1 meter
GCMD Temporal Resolution Ranges
  • irregular
Australian Plant Name Index
  • Senna artemisioides (Gaudich. ex DC.) Randell
  • Senna artemisioides subsp. x petiolaris Randell
  • Senna Mill.
  • Myoporum platycarpum R.Br.
  • Atriplex L.
  • Atriplex vesicaria Heward ex Benth.
Australian Faunal Directory
  • Macropus
  • Oryctolagus_cuniculus
  • Capra
Keywords (Discipline)
  • KVR
  • Long-term Monitoring
  • Koonamore Station
  • Enclosure
  • Grazing Exclusion Experiment
  • Flora Surveys
  • Fauna Surveys
  • Kangaroo Activity
  • Senna populations
  • Cassia Corner
  • Photopoint
  • Rabbit Warren
  • Myoporum Individual
  • Saltbush Transect
  • Kangaroo Scat

Resource constraints

Use limitation
The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
File name
88x31.png
File description
CCBy Logo from creativecommons.org
File type
png
Linkage
https://w3id.org/tern/static/cc-by/88x31.png

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
Alternate title
CC-BY
Edition
4.0
Website
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
Other restrictions
Other constraints
TERN services are provided on an "as-is" and "as available" basis. Users use any TERN services at their discretion and risk. They will be solely responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever that results from such use including use of any data obtained through TERN and any analysis performed using the TERN infrastructure. <br />Web links to and from external, third party websites should not be construed as implying any relationships with and/or endorsement of the external site or its content by TERN. <br /><br />Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting
Other constraints
Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.
Other constraints
Please contact the School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide for permission to access the TGB Osborn VR location.

Resource constraints

Classification
Unclassified

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • NetCDF

Distributor

Distributor

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
OnLine resource
TGB Osborn (Koonamore) VR_Collection_Preview_2025_v2

Distribution Information

Distribution format

Distributor

Distributor

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, QLD, Australia, 4068
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
OnLine resource
ro-crate-metadata.json

Resource lineage

Statement
The data presented throughout is observational. For detailed methodology please refer to each preview document, accessible through the following records:<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li><a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/90a26f3a-cf42-41e5-ada4-9b0166b15b09">Vegetation Quadrats</a></li> <li> <a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/05f37d50-935e-4a0a-b45e-cb1b606ce476">Photopoints</a></li> <li> <a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/c593e881-ddb4-408a-ba5d-6a5f9d258b39"><em>Cassia</em> Corner</a></li> <li><a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/aff278df-c8e8-41ab-b22e-66ea7d466169"><em>Myoporum platycarpum</em> plant individuals</a> </li> <li><a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/615b121a-3c4f-41b5-90f6-1b7e95ce7a9d">Saltbush Transects</a></li> <li><a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/d3e676a3-bf84-439f-ae99-0ce631ec6d64">Senna Populations</a></li> <li><a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/dfe1b721-19c1-4f88-91c3-23f438c6f531">Kangaroo Transects</a></li> <li><a href="https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/TERN/e6448738-d870-432d-9795-955c90f6ee6e">Rabbit Warren Monitoring</a> </li>
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Reference System Information

Reference system identifier
EPSG/EPSG:4326

Reference system type
Geodetic Geographic 2D

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/b5d744de-1ea7-5cb8-9569-0849796d7d7b

Title
TERN GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Point of contact

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
+61 7 3365 9097

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Metadata linkage
https://geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/b5d744de-1ea7-5cb8-9569-0849796d7d7b

Point-of-truth metadata URL

Date info (Creation)
2025-03-31T00:00:00.000000+00:00
Date info (Revision)
2025-12-11T22:38:29.071351+00:00

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-1:2014/AMD 1:2018 Geographic information - Metadata - Fundamentals
Edition
1

Metadata standard

Title
ISO/TS 19115-3:2016
Edition
1.0

Metadata standard

Title
ISO/TS 19157-2:2016
Edition
1.0
Title
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-3:2016 and ISO 19157-2:2016
Date (published)
2021
Edition
1.0

Identifier

Code
10.5281/zenodo.5652221
Website
https://github.com/ternaustralia/TERN-ISO19115/releases/tag/v1.0

 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

ANZSRC Fields of Research
Animal behaviour Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) Ecology Population ecology Terrestrial ecology
GCMD Science Keywords
ANIMAL ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS GRAZING DYNAMICS / PLANT ECOLOGY GRAZING DYNAMICS/PLANT HERBIVORY INVASIVE SPECIES SPECIES DISTRIBUTION SPECIES RECRUITMENT VEGETATION COVER

Provided by

Share on social sites

Access to the portal
Read here the full details and access to the data.

Associated resources

Not available


  •   About
  •   Github
  •