TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection
The TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection contains almost 200,000 vegetation and soil samples collected from 1,000 plots across the continent, representing Australia’s major biomes. The samples are managed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled facility located at The University of Adelaide Waite Campus. The facility was jointly funded by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), The University of Adelaide and the South Australian Government.
The Collection is nationally and internationally unique as all specimens and samples it contains also have associated environmental contextual data. This provides a comprehensive understanding of the condition of Australian ecosystems, how they are changing, and interactions with their environment. The uniqueness of TERN samples is the temporal nature of the Collection. Unlike traditional herbarium collections, both plant voucher specimens and plant tissue samples are collected on multiple visits over time, adding temporal depth. The same applies to the soil subsite samples and soil metagenomic samples.
What's available?
Samples held in the TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection are available for researchers to utilise through loan or provision. Plant voucher specimens, plant tissue samples and soil metagenomic samples are stored in climate-controlled conditions at 17oC. Soil pit samples and soil subsite samples have been heat treated and are stored at ambient temperature.
For further details about how the TERN sample types are collected, stored and preserved visit the EcoPlots Samples User Guide.
Plant voucher specimens held in the TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection represent almost a quarter of Australia’s vascular flora. A representative specimen of each species present in a TERN plot is vouchered with a unique barcode. These specimens are used for species identification and verification purposes and are identified by Australia’s leading botanists and taxonomists at state and national herbaria. TERN is part of a global network of herbaria, represented by the unique Index Herbariorum Code TERN. A portion of plant voucher specimens are accessioned in Australia’s state, territory and national herbaria through a donation and exchange program which can be accessed through the Australasian Virtual Herbarium.
Plant tissue samples are destructively sampled from the plant voucher specimen upon collection and vouchered with a unique barcode (referred to as the primary voucher). These samples are available to be used in molecular and stable isotopic analysis, biochemical and ecophysiology work and functional ecology research.
Additional samples are collected for the four dominant species recognised in the plot, enabling studies of population genetics. These are referred to as secondary vouchers, where material from four individuals of the same species is collected and uniquely barcoded. All plant tissue samples are resolvable to a plant voucher specimen.
Soil pit samples are collected at intervals down the soil profile (~1m) at one location in the southwest corner of the plot. Additional supporting data is gathered at the pit and in the TERN lab, including soil classification, bulk density, pH and electrical conductivity. Soil pit samples can be used for physical and chemical analyses. Before storage, samples are oven-dried at 40 °C for approximately 48 hours, sieved (using a 2 mm sieve), ground, and then stored in air-tight containers. For each soil sample approximately 500 g is collected.
Soil subsite samples are collected from 9 subsites within each plot, with pits dug to a depth of 30 cm and samples collected at 10 cm intervals. Subsite samples can be used for physical and chemical analyses. Before storage, samples are oven-dried at 40 °C for approximately 48 hours, sieved (using a 2mm sieve), ground, and then stored in sealed containers. For the three 10 cm intervals at the 9 subsites, approximately 500g of soil is collected, with a total of 27 subsite samples for a plot.
Soil metagenomic samples are collected from the top layer of soil at each of the 9 subsites within each plot. Samples can be used for DNA analysis to determine the presence of organisms. Each sample is placed in a calico bag, which is then stored within a sealed bag containing silica gel granules. The silica granules are monitored and replaced as necessary. For the 9 metagenomic samples collected at each plot, approximately 200g is collected.
In addition to plant and soil samples, TERN have recently commenced collecting ant samples at each plot. Further information will be provided when the samples and associated data become available. Please contact us for further information.
Accessing TERN samples
TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection samples are freely available to the Australian and international scientific communities to conduct research. Cost recovery may be incurred for large or complex requests to cover retrieval time. In exchange for receiving TERN’s samples, please ensure that you acknowledge TERN and NCRIS in your publications. This enables TERN and NCRIS enabled infrastructure to be recognised appropriately, which in turn leads to continued funding and opportunities for further data and samples in the future.
Further information
For further information on the loan conditions and terms of use, see Sample Use Terms and Conditions
To discover TERN’s available samples, visit the EcoPlots Sample Portal
For more information on the TERN sample loan process visit EcoPlots Samples.
Please contact us to discuss your sample use requirements prior to submitting a EcoPlots Samples Expression of Interest.