Transects for Environmental Monitoring and Decision Making (TREND)

TREND will provide the ecological infrastructure that will: quantify the richness and cover of plant species (including weeds); quantify the diversity and abundance of soil biodiversity; assess the state, spatial heterogeneity and structural complexity of vegetation, including life-stage; record vegetation and soil parameters that assist with the validation of remotely sensed ecological products; analyse vegetation structure and change based on a series of photo reference images; better estimate soil carbon and nutrient stocks; conduct taxonomic validation studies based on collected plant voucher specimens; conduct DNA barcoding and population genetic profiling based on collected tissue samples. The collation of these data will: increase understanding of the dynamics of plant species and soils; substantially increase knowledge of the carbon and other important nutrient budgets across an environmental gradient; improve quality of remote sensing products; input into DNA barcoding of Australian vegetation; help understand the biogeography underpinning and threatening processes impacting South Australian ecosystems; assist state and federal agencies to meet their monitoring and reporting obligations; create a photographic reference of South Australia's bioregions to enhance existing state photo reference libraries; enable researchers and land managers to assess current land state for a variety of purposes depending on how the data is used; identify the climate zones, bioregions, land types and ecosystems where changes are occurring and the management regimes and/or pressures contributing to these changes. Overall this information will progress understanding of ecosystem processes, structure and function, and more generally progress understanding of the response to disturbance and longer term environmental change of rangeland ecosystems, which underpins sustainable management practice. Under the Biome of Australia Soil Environments (BASE) project, soil samples are collected at 14 TREND sites for subsequent physical/chemical and metabarcoding analysis. Under the Biome of Australia Soil Environments (BASE; https://ccgapps.com.au/bpa-metadata/base/) project, soil samples are collected at 14 TREND sites for subsequent physical/chemical and metabarcoding analysis.