South Eastern Queensland 1 Aboveground Biomass Pasture Data Collection 

The Aboveground biomass pasture biomass data collection quantifies seasonal patterns of pasture growth and estimates total standing biomass under ungrazed conditions. Measurements are conducted using Fixed Exclusion Cages (FECs) installed within a fixed radius around the core flux tower site, following a repeatable seasonal sampling framework. This approach provides an estimate of potential pasture growth, isolating the influence of climate and soil factors from grazing effects. 

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. This research site is managed by the Queensland University of Technology. This work is jointly funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project with co-investment by the Queensland Government Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund (RICF) 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. 

This seasonal framework enables quantification of within-year variability in aboveground production and supports annual estimates of net primary productivity (NPP). The resulting data are used in conjunction with flux tower measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and soil coring estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) to develop comprehensive carbon budgets and evaluate the carbon balance for each site. 

The sampling method is adapted from the SWIFTSYND protocol (Day & Philp, 1997) and integrates relevant elements of the TERN AusPlots Rangelands Survey Protocol to ensure consistency with national monitoring standards.
Four harvests are conducted annually to capture key phases of pasture growth and senescence:
Sampling event, Timing, Description:

• H1,November–December, Early-season growth; first harvest following spring green-up
• H2,February–March, End of the summer growing season
• H3,May–June, Harvest near the time of maximum standing biomass
• H4,August–September,Senesced winter feed - prior to the onset of spring growth

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are currently being reformatted for integration into the OneTERN framework and are available upon request during this transition period. Requests should be directed to the data custodian contactable at: altar.info@qut.edu.au