News
New Data! The photosynthetic pathway of all plant species in the TERN plot network
Quickly and easily download the photosynthetic pathway of every plant species recorded across TERN’s entire national plot network.
Australia’s Environment in 2020
Improved rainfall conditions have pulled our environment out of its worst state on record, but recovery is slow, partial and precarious. That’s the main conclusion from Australia’s Environment, the latest in an annual series of environmental condition reports, released on Tuesday 30 March 2021. The report, and its website, provide a summary of key environmental indicators and how they changed in 2020.
Centre Spotlight: ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage
This month we look at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH)’s work on providing a culturally inclusive, globally significant human and environmental history of Australia – Australia’s Epic Story.
Standards to assist conservation and decision-making
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and TERN are working on a project to standardise both environmental monitoring and data systems for improved decision-making. Standardised field survey protocols will assist land managers, development project operators and environmental consultants collect consistent and comparable monitoring data. In parallel, a standardised data exchange system will support better access and reuse of environmental monitoring and surveillance projects.
Paddock to reef: Australia’s newest monitoring SuperSite
The TERN-Queensland Government project to introduce continuous environmental monitoring sensors into the Burdekin region is progressing well.
The new monitoring equipment will allow TERN to deliver essential measures on the ecosystem functioning of grazing landscapes and enable improved pasture modelling for Queensland and beyond. Join us as we check in on the site’s progress.
Ecosystem tipping points: Carbon sink to source within 30 years
Earth’s terrestrial biosphere currently absorbs nearly one-third of anthropogenic CO₂ pollution. However, new research using long-term data from TERN suggests that rapid warming and increased emissions under business-as-usual climate scenarios might halve that absorption rate within decades.
Directors Update – March 2021
From February to late October, TERN will be focused on the 2021 Research Infrastructure Roadmap consultation process due to be launched imminently by the Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment. TERN hopes its ecosystem community will engage strongly and generously with the Roadmap consultations to set the national priorities for Australian research infrastructure over the next decade.
Site of the Month: Howard Springs
For this month’s site feature, we’re headed to the top of the Northern Territory where one of Australia’s longest-running ecosystem flux monitoring stations is located.
The Howard Springs OzFlux site has been operating continuously since 2001, diligently capturing carbon, water and energy exchanges from Australia’s productive, extensive and ecologically important tropical savanna ecosystems.
Gap filling an ecosystem monitoring network
TERN has developed a powerful new method combining modelling and field surveys to determine the optimal location of new monitoring plots in bioregions not currently covered by the national research infrastructure. New TERN plots will provide better spatial and temporal data to meet the needs of researchers and modellers.
Directors Update – February 2021
From February to late October, TERN will be focused on the 2021 Research Infrastructure Roadmap consultation process due to be launched imminently by the Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment. TERN hopes its ecosystem community will engage strongly and generously with the Roadmap consultations to set the national priorities for Australian research infrastructure over the next decade.
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