Desert Uplands Plot Network: Plot Details - Spatial Coordinates, Northern Queensland, Australia

Abstract: The LTERN Desert Uplands Plot Network Plot Details - Spatial Coordinates contains location data for 60 permanent 1 hectare plots in Northern Queensland, Australia. All sites are located within extensive ironbark (Eucalyptus whitei and E. melanophloia) woodland in the Prairie-Torrens Creeks subregion in the northwest of the Desert Uplands bioregion. The sites extend across four leasehold cattle properties that lie within an area approximately 50 km by 50 km. The sites occur on alluvial sand and clay sheets, and flat sand and earth plains. The Desert Uplands research plots commenced in 2004, and have been revisited in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Desert Uplands Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c343f9e98336.

Sampling method: The specific location of the 1 ha survey sites were selected on the basis that they were situated in large contiguous areas that were considered typical or characteristic of the respective vegetation management strategy. Within each property, sites are generally a minimum of 1 km apart but may be within 500 m of one another in some cases. At the property scale, sites are spread across a 10-15 km radius on each property. Sites are located a minimum of 500 m from any water point, commonly 50-100 m from the nearest access track and that the demarcation used for site selection within the “Unmodified vegetation management” class (30-45% vs. 45-60% canopy cover), was made using crown canopy mapping based on 1996 1:250 000 aerial photography. Sites are broadly situated within the same broad Ironbark woodland community (Eucalyptus whitei, E. melanophloia). Two Queensland land zones are mapped across the four properties with sandy plains and alluvial systems each represented by two properties. One of the leaseholders (with five thinned and five unmodified sites), withdrew from the study following the July 2008 survey leaving 50 sites distributed across three leasehold properties remaining in the study.

Study extent: These plots have been visited in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Project Funding: Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN), a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.