TGB Osborn (Koonamore) Vegetation Reserve, Photopoint Data 

This record is a collection of photopoints from surveys conducted in the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve (or Koonamore Vegetation Reserve (KVR)) since the early 1900s. Photographs have been taken approximately annually from 1926 until 2024 at a series of set positions (photopoints) by staff and students of the University of Adelaide. The duration of the record available digitally extends from 1907 (observations) to 2008 (photographs). These include stand-alone positions, corners of quadrats and points along transects. Photographs may have been taken in more than one direction at each point, and/or in black and white or colour. Each photograph was annotated according to what could be seen on the photograph, individual species identified, numbers given to each plant (not always reliable from event to event). Occasionally information on canopy diameter measured along EW and NS direction, plant height and plant mortality status is presented. This is version 2.1 of the TGB Osborn Photopoint data release and supersedes any previous versions. The change log for the data is as follows:

• V2.1, 2026-02-04; Fittock, Specht and Arun Singh Ramesh; Updated dates to comply with ISO standards (YYYY-MM-DD). Clarified anomalies in the record and inserted NA in blank cells, cells with 'no comment' etc.  
• V2, 2025-05-27; Alison Specht: cleaned observation data file, correcting scientific names
  gathered images, catalogued them, sorted them into those related to measurement types; Miranda Fittock, Wilma Karsdorp and Javier Sanchez Gonzalez: re-named photos to be consistent throughout (photopointID_yyyymmdd). Arranged for them to be uploaded into TERN EcoImages; Fittock and Specht: entered photograph names into observation file and delivered the file to the TERN Data Discovery Portal; Specht: created this metadata file including catalogue of holdings.  
• V1, 2008-2014; Russell Sinclair; Digitised field data sheets and computer records delivered to the AEKOS TERN portal. Added required V1 metadata in the AEKOS-TERN portal.  

 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Acknowledgement is due to all the students, staff and researchers who have collected data at the site since its establishment, to those who have entered the data, and to the support of funders and interested parties, including the Adelaide University. Without the vision, tenacity, and diligence of many past researchers, these unique data could not have been made openly available. 

In the mid-1920's Professor Theodore George Bentley Osborn, Professor of Botany in the University of Adelaide, put forward strong scientific arguments concerning the lack of knowledge of the ecology of arid zone vegetation, and the effect of grazing on it. In 1925, a parcel of land of around 390 ha was identified in Koonamore Station in South Australia and fenced to exclude rabbits and other stock, and Mr Wilcox, one of the directors, had a three-roomed house erected to serve as a field laboratory. The area was originally referred to as the Arid Region Flora Reserve but later was named the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve after its founder. For simplicity it is commonly referred to as the Koonamore Vegetation Reserve. There have been some unwanted animal incursions over the years, but these have been rare. In 1931, for example, rabbits were able to enter due to fence damage. Kangaroos and emus are not fully excluded. As is clear from the objectives stated by TGB Osborn, the reserve was to provide the basis for systematic measurements of the now-protected vegetation. Osborn and his team (including Prof. J.G. Wood and Mr Terry Paltridge) set up a series of quadrats (square plots) and photopoints within the reserve. A series of transects was later added. All of the foregoing were permanently marked, and observations on species occurrence (presence and abundance) and physical measurements of the plants were made repeatedly, but at varying intervals. 

Methods

For detailed methods, please see the Photopoint Metadata v2, 2025, available in the download pack and also via the

Three types of photopoints, those from stand-alone positions (n=37), the corners of quadrats (n=26), and those from points along transects (n=10). Each photopoint has a unique number and its location recorded. Each quadrat has two photopoints, usually but not always located at or near the northeast and northwest corners, the direction of each photograph being inward to the quadrat. Photographs were taken in black and white or colour (largely dependent on year) and for the first many decades stored as prints with negatives. During 2007-2008 the photo archive was digitised by Dr Dean Graetz using the photonegative collection. It is due to his efforts that we have digital copies of the photographs archived and made available on TERN EcoImages a. For access to the original hardcopy images and other records, contact the University Archives and/or the Faculty at the University of Adelaide.

The consistency of the photographic record between 1926 and 2008 (the time frame available from this source) is variable: some photopoints have an almost continuous observational record (e.g. PP1), while others are of shorter duration (e.g. the 20 years from 1968-1988). Observations including measurements taken from the photographs do not carry forward beyond 1988, except for PP15 and PP1 whose measurements extend respectively to 1989 and 1994.

Since October, 1977 most stand-alone photopoints were defined by a steel stake marking the location of the camera and another, painted in 20cm strips, 15m from the camera defining the centre of the field of view. For many years photos were taken with a SLR camera (type noted in original records) using a 50mm lens. A black and white photo was initially taken, and by the 1970's a colour photo was taken as well, until colour photographs were only taken. The photographs were printed and mounted on record cards with details of the camera and film used, the negative number and photographer. Each photograph was annotated according to what could be seen on the photograph, individual species identified, numbers given to each plant (not always reliable from event to event) and occasionally plants measured. It is the data from these and the photographs associated to them that are found in the TDDP and TERN EcoImages respectively. The availability of images and observations from them is shown in the following tables, Table 1 for stand-alone photopoints, Table 2 for quadrat photos and Table 3 for transect and fire quadrat photos (please refer Photopoint Metadata Preview 2025v3.

When more than one image is available per photopoint per date of observation, a maximum of four images is selected and listed in the observation file. Each image is named by photopoint ID, the date of the image (photopointID_yyyymmdd) and each is given a unique sequence number. These match directly across both sources, TERN Ecoimages and the TDDP observation file. If black and white and colour images are available for the same date and location, at least one of each is included in the four images available.

Videos produced by Dean Graetz based on the repeat photographs taken at the different photopoints can be accessed at Recalling the Past 00 Overview.