Across Australia, many methods are used by conservation agencies to demonstrate change to the biodiversity values that are being protected. Adequate resourcing can be restrictive to monitoring effort and in many regions the availability of reference sites can limit the interpretation of results against desired states. In addition, the arid and semi-arid regions across Australia are under-surveyed which can hinder the interpretation of survey data where species presence and abundance are poorly understood. Here we present the application of TERN’s AusPlots Survey Protocols to setup a long-term vegetation monitoring framework in Chenopod Shrublands on a relatively new conservation property, Evelyn Downs Reserve, managed by Bush Heritage Australia in the South Australian rangelands. The property is over 235,000 ha in size, and has a long history of both sheep and cattle grazing. Conservation monitoring is typically used to assess changes in conservation values but also to demonstrate the impact of management interventions, in this case, the removal of both domestic and feral grazing animals. To ensure a long-term comparison to similar vegetation under continued grazing management, we replicated existing AusPlots that had been established on the neighbouring station in 2012 and re-surveyed in 2021. A range of metrics including species richness, species and substrate cover, diversity, utilisation of key palatable species, and a community analysis, were assessed to develop baseline vegetation and to establish a robust method for comparison into the future.

Understanding the condition of ecosystems is fundamental to effective environmental management and conservation. Reliable on-ground assessments of condition are particularly valuable and can support a range of applications, including regional evaluations and model validation. The Habitat Condition Assessment Tool (HCAT) is a web-based platform designed to collect consistent expert site-level assessments of ecosystem condition across Australia. HCAT enables ecological experts to delineate areas they are familiar with using an interactive mapping interface and assign ecosystem condition scores based on their estimate of the site’s overall ecological integrity, ranging from 0 (completely transformed habitat) to 1 (pre-European colonisation). Rather than eliminating subjectivity, HCAT recognises expert judgment as fundamental to assessing ecosystem condition. This approach assumes that the subjectivity involved in deriving an overall condition metric using empirical measurements, such as deciding which attributes to measure and how they should be weighted, is consistent with the subjectivity associated with intuitive scoring by well-informed experts. Experts also assign condition scores to ecosystem images to calibrate site assessments, helping to ensure consistency across contributors. While HCAT does not directly monitor change, repeat contributions over time can enable future analyses of ecosystem trends. Developed through collaboration among ecologists, data scientists, and the Atlas of Living Australia, HCAT represents a transdisciplinary and highly accessible approach to environmental assessment and monitoring. Originally piloted in 2018, HCAT has been updated to create a more seamless and user-friendly experience and is now seeking contributions from across Australia to continue building a national library of site-level condition data. These data will be used to enhance validation and calibration of remotely sensed condition assessments and contribute to improved forecasting for applications such as the Nature Repair Market, including estimates of habitat rarity and the impacts of restoration on connectivity.

The impacts of invasive alien pests and diseases are routinely estimated and measured in the context of agriculture, but less so in the context of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This can lead to an underappreciation of the full scope of the impacts of invasive species, and a bias toward managing species with more readily quantifiable market impacts. In this study, we developed a new 'contribution modelling' approach to systematically estimate the impacts of pests and diseases at a continent scale. We developed this method using a case study of myrtle rust in Australia, where we resolved host-specific impacts on growth and survival from this pathogen spatially across the country to estimate the potential reduction of carbon sequestration in Australia due to countrywide spread of a novel (exotic) myrtle rust strain. We found that myrtle rust could lead to over 3% loss in national annual carbon sequestration if it were to spread across Australia, or over $700 million AUD value loss. While developed using a case study, this model is designed to be readily adaptible to other species and their impacts on other environmental assets. Our work shows the need to systematically compile the potential impacts and costs of invasive pests and diseases to the environment and ecosystem services globally, to support both biosecurity decision-making and climate-change related initiatives such as net-zero emissions targets and reforestation efforts.

Effective natural resource management requires robust comparable, ecological data to assess the outcomes of on-ground actions and guide future management and policy. The Ecological Monitoring System Australia (EMSA) addresses the long-standing challenges associated with inconsistent monitoring approaches, by providing a modular, scientifically rigorous, and nationally standardised system for collecting, managing and sharing ecological data.

Ecological monitoring varies widely in scope, from measuring project outcomes at the local scale, to monitoring trends across landscapes. However, monitoring efforts that are isolated or methodologically inconsistent are difficult to evaluate, compare, or build upon. By establishing standardised methods and promoting the consistent use of terminology, EMSA enables the creation of robust, interoperable datasets that support meaningful analysis and informed decision-making

EMSA is a collaboration between the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). Designed for entry-level ecologists and practitioners, EMSA supports repeatable and scalable monitoring across diverse bioregions and project types. It is currently being implemented by Natural Heritage Trust partners and is adaptable for use across other NRM investment programs, national and international applications.

Far more than electronic datasheets, EMSA offers a comprehensive framework for standardised ecological monitoring. It includes a suite of modular survey protocols, detailed instruction manuals, a data collection app, and a centralised data management and storage system, the Australian Government’s Biodiversity Data Repository. EMSA also provides on-going support and opportunities for questions and shared learning via a help desk, a community of practice with regular information sessions and a multi-day on-ground training program to upskill ecologists from regional delivery partner organisations and contractors.

By enabling consistent and high-quality data collection, EMSA is helping to build a nationally integrated ecological dataset, improving our understanding of ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, and climate change impacts, while supporting evidence-based planning, evaluation, and reporting.

Effective biodiversity conservation demands more than good intentions—it requires robust, repeatable, and scientifically defensible data. Standardised monitoring protocols are the cornerstone of this effort, enabling conservation practitioners to track ecological change, assess management effectiveness, and inform adaptive strategies with confidence.
Here we explore the critical role of standardisation in biodiversity monitoring, drawing on the experience of Nature Foundation’s Biodiversity Monitoring Program. Developed as part of the organisation’s Science and Knowledge Strategy, the program guides conservation efforts across more than 500,000 hectares of managed reserves and is underpinned by best practice protocols that ensure consistency, transparency, and interoperability across reserves and data types. These protocols cover a range of ecological indicators, including climate variables, vegetation structure, and bird, reptile, and mammal populations, and are aligned with national frameworks such as TERN’s Ecological Monitoring System Australia (EMSA) and Accounting for Nature.
Through examples from actively managed reserves, we will demonstrate how standardised monitoring supports evidence-based decision-making, enhances transparency, and fosters trust among stakeholders. It will also highlight how these protocols contribute to national and global biodiversity strategies by enabling meaningful reporting and impact assessment. We also highlight the importance of aligning data formats with national repositories (e.g., BDBSA, DCCEEW Biodiversity Data Repository) and vocabularies from the Australian Biodiversity Information Standards (ABIS), ensuring that local efforts contribute to broader conservation goals.
Ultimately, Nature Foundation’s approach demonstrates how rigorous, standardised monitoring can strengthen conservation practice, moving from reactive management to proactive stewardship grounded in science.

Informed management of environmental water is critical to sustaining ecological values along the South Australian River Murray. This study presents findings from the establishment and monitoring of long-term understorey vegetation condition sites at Weir Pools 1 and 3, surveyed in autumn 2025. Using quadrat-based surveys aligned with 'The Living Murray' methodology, we assessed species richness, abundance, and functional group composition across permanent wetlands, temporary wetlands, and shedding floodplain habitats. Amphibious and floodplain-dependent species dominated lower elevations, with terrestrial species increasing at higher elevations. The monitoring program enables assessment against targets for the Channel and Floodplain Priority Environmental Asset (PEA) in the Long-term environmental watering plan for the South Australian River Murray water resource plan area. A notable finding was the low diversity and abundance of aquatic vegetation in permanent wetlands, particularly at Donald Flat, where Phragmites australis (Common Reed) formed dense, almost impenetrable bands around the water’s edge. This dominance is likely suppressing the establishment of other aquatic species, which may also be exacerbated by high carp abundance, which disturbs sediment and uproots aquatic plants. The proliferation of Phragmites in these areas may also reflect reduced hydrological variability and a lack of natural flow events, favouring species adapted to stable, low-flow conditions. Recommendations include refining functional group classifications, implementing carp control measures, and expanding monitoring to capture different hydrological phases (e.g. deep inundation, receding/shallow inundation, damp and dry phases). Continued monitoring will support adaptive management and improve understanding of vegetation dynamics in response to water regime changes, specifically weir pool manipulation.

Ecosystems are inherently complex, shaped by the dynamic interactions between living organisms and their physical environment. This complexity stems from the diversity of species, the variability of environmental conditions, and the intricate networks of relationships that link them together. Understanding these relationships and their dynamics requires access to diverse, high-quality, and long-term datasets that span biological, physical, and environmental domains. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) plays a critical role in collecting, curating, and delivering such data across Australia. Operating at local, regional, and continental scales, TERN provides open access to a wide range of datasets through its Data Discovery Portal, enabling holistic, data-driven assessments of ecosystem processes and change.
This presentation shows how users can effectively work with disparate data types to study Australian ecosystems. We demonstrate how to access and integrate data at multiple scales, e.g. site-level flux and biodiversity data for local analyses; vegetation surveys for regional insights; and continental-scale satellite products. The talk highlights practical approaches to data integration and harmonization, including addressing challenges related to inconsistent spatial and temporal resolution.
We identify opportunities to leverage synergies across datasets, providing a richer understanding of ecosystem interactions. Through case studies, we illustrate how integrated data can be used to examine relationships among biological, physical, and environmental variables, detect temporal patterns, and uncover long-term ecological trends.
Our work emphasizes the importance of robust integration infrastructures to support scalable and reproducible ecosystem analysis. It also demonstrates the value of national platforms like TERN in supporting global efforts in environmental monitoring, climate adaptation, and sustainable land management.

Long-term ecological monitoring at a national scale is complex, resource-intensive, but essential for understanding ecosystem change. Since 2011, TERN Ecosystem Surveillance has been collecting consistent, standardised ecological data from a national network of more than 1,000 monitoring plots across Australia’s major biomes. The resulting samples and associated data are housed in the TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium Collection at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus—a significant national archive supporting long-term ecological research.
This open-access facility holds more than 100,000 curated physical samples, including plant vouchers, plant tissue, soil pits, subsurface soil, metagenomic soil samples, and, more recently, ant specimens. Each sample is accompanied by detailed, standardised environmental data, providing a strong foundation for a wide range of research. From taxonomic revision and phylogenetics to eDNA analysis, species genetics, soil chemistry, and trait-based ecology, the potential applications are vast—and growing.
These collections are not static—they are active, evolving resources. They support cutting-edge science, inform conservation and land management, and enhance reproducibility at a time when transparency and data accessibility are more important than ever.
This presentation will highlight the versatility and value of the TERN collections and invite researchers, land managers, and policy-makers to explore, engage with, and contribute to this dynamic national resource.

Australia’s unique biodiversity faces growing pressure from habitat loss, fragmentation, and environmental change. Addressing these challenges requires reliable, consistent, and scalable information on habitat condition to support effective restoration and protection efforts. In response, the Habitat Condition Assessment System (HCAS) was developed through a collaboration between CSIRO and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. This innovative system integrates reference site data with satellite imagery and contextual information about ecosystems to deliver nationally-complete, repeatable assessments of habitat condition.

HCAS marks a significant advancement over previous approaches by offering finer spatial resolution, continuous coverage, and enhanced temporal consistency. Since its initial release, it has proven valuable across the Department in national reporting, nature repair market assessments, conservation prioritisation, policy development, and integration with complementary data to assess, for example, habitat connectivity.

The system continues to evolve, with a recent redesign delivering enhancements to accuracy and usability through improved and finer resolution input datasets, refined benchmarking techniques, and uncertainty quantification. These developments reflect an on-going commitment to meeting the diverse needs of users.

This presentation will outline the HCAS framework, its development journey, recent improvements, and practical applications in decision-making and reporting within the Department. It also invites broader engagement to support ongoing enhancements and strengthen long-term environmental outcomes.