Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network

🔍 Discover the TERN EcoImages portal! EcoImages provides access to all images collected at TERN survey sites across Australia.

You can find images related to Phenocameras, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Photopoints, Flora, Fauna, and more. Images can also be downloaded as a time-series based on where and what type of images were captured.

Check out the EcoImages Portal at ecoimages.tern.org.au

🏜️ Today is the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. This year’s theme, "Rangelands: Recognise. Respect. Restore.", calls for greater recognition of rangelands’ economic, ecological and cultural importance and increased investment in restoring degraded areas. Rangelands cover more than half of the planet and support around two billion people worldwide.

At TERN’s Fletcherview Tropical Rangeland SuperSite we monitor a grazed Eucalypt savanna positioned in a working cattle station—measuring carbon, water, and vegetation—to inform more sustainable management.

Watch our video to learn more about the site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq94MsgcIoc

📡 Mediterranean ecosystems are famously biodiverse yet remarkably vulnerable to climate change, and Australia’s Mediterranean ecosystems are no exception.

To improve our understanding of these unique ecosystems and what the future might hold for them, researchers are testing cutting-edge spectral sensing technologies to improve early detection of vegetation stress.

As this work unfolds across TERN’s flux tower sites in Western Australia’s Mediterranean ecoregion, encouraging preliminary data suggests this approach is on the right track and could soon offer new insights into ecosystem health.

Read the full article: https://buff.ly/38cTvbs

🔍 Discover one of the longest running data packages accessible through TERN. The Victorian Alpine Plot Network vegetation data package contains vegetation data collected at a sub-set of the 481 long term monitoring plots which have been established in the Australian Alps and in Tasmania. This package represents all data from surveys of vegetation within the Alpine Long Term Monitoring — Community Changes project.

The surveys began in 1947 up to the most recent survey from 2013, with the aim to monitor the dynamics of the major alpine ecosystems, and understand fundamental ecological processes by assessing the effects of disturbance by fire, climate change and invasive alien species on the alpine biota. The frequency of surveys generally ranges from every 3 to 10 years; some plots are surveyed annually during initial monitoring.

You can access this dataset on the TERN Data Discovery Portal: https://buff.ly/ZKD5NjX

(pic. Establishment of Pretty Valley Plots - 1946)

🥇 The TERN IGSN ID Catalogue leads the world on a metadata element that fewer than 1% of all DataCite records include: method descriptions, the metadata that documents how data was actually collected. Across 126+ million records, TERN includes more than any other repository in DataCite.

A new analysis by Ted Habermann of Metadata Game Changers examines how metadata supports research integrity, and TERN comes out on top for method descriptions. What makes our approach stand out is that these descriptions link directly to detailed protocols, like the AusPlots Rangelands Survey Protocols Manual, so anyone reusing our data can see exactly how it was gathered. The author calls it a great example of supporting both reuse and scientific integrity.

Documenting not just what is collected, but how it is collected, is core to good open science. We're proud to see TERN recognised for leading the way on this!

Read the full analysis: https://buff.ly/A9I5V5R

🌱 The peaty soils that form the foundation of Tasmania’s highland marshes have incredible environmental and economic importance. Indeed, they are remarkable carbon sinks and are crucial to ecosystem hydrology.

Yet these peaty soils, which function so well in their cold environment, now face an uncertain future. With TERN’s support, hydrologists, botanists and ecosystem ecologists are working together to better understand how these unique ecosystems are responding to climate change and what the future might hold for them.

Read the full article: https://buff.ly/FGVFJEt

✨️ TERN is delighted to sponsor the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA2026) conference which will be held in Brisbane from 29 November. Abstract submissions are now open with the program covering everything from functional traits to ecoacoustics, including specific symposia on:

▶️ Long‑term, multi‑method data for monitoring trends in Australian biodiversity
▶️ Drought, Extremes, and Ecological Resilience: Integrating Data
▶️ Drivers of Australian vegetation composition and function: data to applications

Submit an abstract: esa2026.org.au/call-for-abstracts

🌏️ Happy World Environment Day!

Thank you to everyone who as able to join us at our webinar on 'Australia’s Environmental Data Mosaic: from complexity to national advantage'.

This webinar brought together guest speakers Alice McGlashan, Kerry Levett and Professor Bradley Evans to confront a central question: how do we turn a fragmented environmental data landscape into a connected, resilient, national‑scale capability that serves reporting, operations and long‑term stewardship?

If you care about the long-term health of Australia's land and the institutions that steward it, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

The recording is now available here: https://buff.ly/gyc9bfJ

Australia’s Environmental Data Mosaic: from complexity to national advantage | TERN Australia https://youtu.be/3XkVGTqvfUs Australia’s environmental evidence is expanding faster than our ability to assemble it. Satellites, sensors, ranger programs, Defence monitoring and research infrastructures are generating unprecedented data. But fragmentation means critical insights remain locked in s...

🌳 Kaylyn Chleborad is a Masters student of Conservation Science at The University of Queensland with a keen interest in ecology field work and science communication. So, when TERN recently announced a new student partner project through UQ’s Student Staff Partnership (UQSSP) Program, Kaylyn leapt at the opportunity.

Under the guidance of TERN’s Education & Training Manager, she explored new ways of sharing Australia’s environmental stories — through data, ecology, communication, and creative educational design.

Here, Kaylyn share’s her experience of exploring UQ’s Long Pocket precinct, where TERN has its headquarters, as she developed the first biodiversity guidebook for this remarkably complex semi-urban ecosystem.

Read the full article: https://buff.ly/4sBv5zi

📖 The TERN Ecosystem Surveillance team will be running a training course in August at Calperum Station, South Australia. This course will focus on 'Ecosystem monitoring methods and remote sensing calibration/validation'.

Dates: 1 - 9 August 2026 (inclusive)

Price: Australian-based participants will pay only cost recovery for transport, food and accommodation. The course itself is covered by TERN funding. PLEASE NOTE: international participants will have a different price structure due to the conditions of TERN’s NCRIS funding.

Participants will:
▶️ Learn TERN field data collection methods using standardised tools and techniques
▶️ Lay out a TERN one‑hectare plot and implement vegetation and soil monitoring protocols
▶️ Explore applications of TERN ecosystem monitoring protocols across different landscapes and contexts
▶️ Learn to use the TERN field data collection app
▶️ Access additional resources and support

These courses are open to anyone interested in ecological monitoring, offering both practical and theoretical training in monitoring methods and on-ground calibration/ validation for remote sensing. This training is ideal for ecologists, students, and environmental consultants.

To register your interest and secure a place in the course, or if you have any questions, contact the TERN Adelaide team at: [email protected].