View
161
Download
2
Category
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TERN's Australian Transect Network Director Stefan Caddy-Retalic's presentation on TERN infrastructure at EcoTas13 in November 2013.
Citation preview
TERN InfrastructureBuilding new ecological plot infrastructure to
enable Australian science
Stefan Caddy-RetalicDirector, Australian Transect Networkstefan.caddy-retalic@adelaide.edu.au
• A network to provide infrastructure to enable Australian environmental science(i.e. not research, though some capacity for demonstration projects)
• Building hard and soft infrastructure powerful enough to help answer big ecological questions
• Improving networks across ecosystem science community (écologistes sans frontières)
• Data and products to be made freely available• Empowering researchers and environmental
managers• A service to be utilised
Rationale: What is TERN?
• AusPlots– Forests– Rangelands
• Australian Transect Network• Australian Super Site Network• Long Term Ecological Plot Network (LTERN)• Lots of other TERN facilities that are not plot-
based (e.g. OzFlux, AusCover, Eco-Informatics, eMast, Coasts etc)
TERN Plot Networks
• Rangelands81% of Australia, least studied regions, >decadal cycles
• AusPlots designed to form a network of reference sites to be used as baseline data and for monitoring/trajectory projection and management.
• Most sites “best on offer”• Include some of the most remote regions in
Australia – therefore difficult (and expensive) for many researchers to access.
AusPlots Rangelands
Developing transects that are:• Subcontinental scale• Cross multiple IBRA bioregions• Traverse environmental gradients (e.g.
temperature, rainfall, land use)• Complement other TERN facilities (AusPlots,
LTERN, Super Sites, AusCover)• Uses AusPlots Rangelands & other methodologies
Australian Transect Network
• 1 ha (100mx100m)• 1010 point intercepts (substrate, multi strata veg)• Plant vouchers for each species
Herbarium ID plus additional tissue for genetic and isotopic analysis (extra material for dominant spp)
• 1x 1m+ soil characterisationColour, texture, EC, pH, lithology etc
• 9x 30cm soil characterisationIncluding soil crust for metabarcoding analysis
• Basal area• Tri-photo point panoramas (Ben’s talk)• Leaf Area Index
AusPlots & ATN Sites
Status to dateAusPlots ForestsAusPlots RangelandsSWATT TransectTREND Transect
332 sites surveyedwith APR method
16 sites surveyedwith APF method
• Methodology published• Training workshops held in SA & WA• Field collection app developed• Pipeline between field collection and data repository established• Data publishing pathways operational• Data published for ~100 sites in ÆKOS• Data published in Soils 2 Satellites• ~10,000 plant specimens ID’d by regional herbaria• ~4 tonnes of soil deposited in National Soil Archive• Genetic and isotopic samples available to research community
Status to date
• Targeted at general users(including scientists browsing)
• Demonstration datavisualisation tool w/ ALA& TERN Eco-Informatics
• Users can get a sense ofsite attributes including:Landform, soils, veg compositionand structure, soil metabarcoding
• Currently ~30 sites available (intend to upload many more).
Using Data: Soils 2 Satelliteswww.soils2satellites.org.au
• Targeted at scientists andmodellers
• Data fully described• All data available for
download• Suitable for new or
combined analysis• Currently ~100 AusPlots/
ATN sites available in data portal• Data for ~100,000 other plots nationally
Using Data: ÆKOSwww.aekos.org.au
• 332 sites of:– Pressed herbarium specimens (ID, morphology etc)– Dried leaf vouchers (DNA, isotopes, chemical analysis)– Soil samples (chemical and physical characterisation)– Surface crusts (DNA, soil microbiology, metabarcoding)
• Samples are available to researchers– Projects likely to yield results of maximal utility to the
research and management community will be prioritised– Subject to “share alike” principle
Using Samples
• TERN is charged with developing scientific infrastructure to enable the Australian (and global) ecosystem science community
• All TERN products will be made (or are already) freely availableData, software code, sample collections, etc
• We want to work with you• New partnerships are welcome• Help us get better at serving you
Take Home Messages
Questions?
stefan.caddy-retalic@adelaide.edu.auUAdel: (+61) 8 8313 1257
Recommended