The Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) AusPlots Facility has recently celebrated a significant milestone, having completed its 500th plot in the rangelands.

The AusPlots Facility, which is based at the University of Adelaide, is a surveillance monitoring program that undertakes assessments of ecosystems across the country. Since 2009, they have been collecting data, making measurements and taking samples of plants and soils in 100m x 100m plots around rangelands and forests across Australia.

The achievement of surveying 500 plots is testament to the hard work and dedication of the AusPlots team and their supporters. The 500th plot is located in the Pilbara region of WA, 80 km north of Newman, and was surveyed with co-funding from the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) and Pilbara Corridors – both strong supporters of AusPlots.

Stephen van Leeuwen (Assistant Director Science) DPaW says “AusPlots is a great way of collecting fundamental data for monitoring and evaluation, and is especially useful for State government”.

The AusPlots Facility is one of three TERN facilities based at the University of Adelaide (the others are Eco-informatics and Australian Transects Network). The facilities collect ecosystem data and make it freely available for use by the broader community.