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Data

The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in TERN Ecosystem Surveillance Plots 

Ver: 2.0
Status of Data: completed
Update Frequency: notPlanned
Security Classification: unclassified
Dataset Published: 2020-11-05
Dataset Last Modified: 2026-08-18
Metadata viewed 9396 times
Dataset accessed 303 times
Metadata Created: 2020-10-13
Metadata Last Modified: 2026-08-19
How to cite this collection:
Munroe, S., McInerney, F., Andrae, J., Welti, N., Guerin, G., Leitch, E., Hall, T., Szarvas, S., Atkins, R., Caddy-Retalic, S., Holtum, J. & Sparrow, B. (2020). The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in TERN Ecosystem Surveillance Plots. Version 2.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://dx.doi.org/10.25901/k61f-yz90 
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPPhotosynthetic_Pathways_of_Plants_TERN_v2_19092024
HTTPPhotosynthetic_Pathways_of_plant_species_TERN_version1_2020
HTTPmetadata_records_photosynthetic_pathways_of_plants_TERN_v2_2024
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URL
HTTPro-crate-metadata.json
This data set provides the photosynthetic pathways for 4832 species recorded across plots surveyed by Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) between 2011 and May 2022 (inclusive). TERN survey plots are 1 ha (100 x 100 m) permanently established sites located in a homogeneous area of terrestrial vegetation. At each plot, TERN survey teams record vegetation composition and structural characteristics and collect a range of plant samples using a point-intercept method. Species were assigned a photosynthetic pathway using literature and carbon stable isotope analysis of bulk tissue collected by TERN at the survey plots.
The data set is comprised of one data table that contains a list of each species and its photosynthetic pathway, and one metadata file which provides a data descriptor that defines data values and a list of all the peer-reviewed sources used to create this data set.
Version 1 (2020) included the photosynthetic pathways of 2428 species recorded across TERN plots surveyed between 2011 and 2017 (inclusive) and was originally published in 2020. Key updates in version 2 (2024) include an expanded species list and updated taxonomy were applicable
 
Credit
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. We acknowledge the TERN Ecosystem Surveillance field team for their work collecting the voucher specimens used in the δ13C analysis. We also acknowledge the support of TERN by the Australian government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. Additional financial support for this project was provided by the AMP Foundation and the AMP Tomorrow Fund awarded to S.M., the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT110100100793) awarded to F.A.M., and Australian Government Research Training Program and University of Adelaide Faculty of Sciences Divisional scholarships awarded to J.W.A.
 
Purpose
This photosynthetic pathway data set was created by TERN to enable research examining the abundance, richness, and distribution of C4 and C3 vegetation in Australia. 
Lineage
Data not provided. 
Method DocumentationData not provided.
Procedure StepsData not provided.
Spatial Description
Australia, Continent-wide 
Temporal Coverage
From 2011-01-01 to 2022-05-31 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

Data Quality Assessment Scope
Photosynthetic pathway assignments obtained from published sources have already been subject to scientific scrutiny and are well-validated. Plant δ13C were measured using well-established analytical techniques. All samples where corrected for instrument drift and normalized according to reference values using certified and calibrated standards. 
Data Quality Report
Data not provided. 
Data Quality Assessment Outcome
The assumption that all species within a given genus possess the same photosynthetic pathway is realistic in most circumstances. However, we identified multiple exceptions. C4 and CAM photosynthesis have independently evolved multiple times across dozens of lineages. To minimise this potential source of error, all species within a given family that are known to include C4 species were included in δ13C analysis. CAM or C3-CAM photosynthesis is particularly difficult to identify using δ13C, therefore any CAM or C3-CAM designations based on δ13C values should be considered tentative and warrant further investigation. Carbon stable isotope analysis was performed at different laboratories over multiple years. Stable carbon isotope values had average uncertainties of ≤ 0.54‰ δ13C based on repeat analysis of all the standards. The mean of the absolute difference between replicate samples (10% of all samples) was 0.22‰ δ13C. 
ANZSRC - FOR
Plant biology
Data Stream
Site Survey
GCMD Sciences
ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS - PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PLANTS
VEGETATION
VEGETATION - CARBON
VEGETATION - PLANT CHARACTERISTICS
Horizontal Resolution
100 meters - < 250 meters
Parameters
plant photosynthetic pathway
Project
TERN Ecosystem Surveillance
Temporal Resolution
Annual
Topic
biota
environment
User Defined
Stable Isotope Analysis
Author
Munroe, Samantha
Co-Author
McInerney, Francesca
Andrae, Jake
Welti, Nina
Guerin, Greg
Leitch, Emrys
Hall, Tony
Szarvas, Steve
Atkins, Rachel
Caddy-Retalic, Stefan
Holtum, Joseph
Sparrow, Ben
Contact Point
Sparrow, Ben
Munroe, Samantha
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
The photosynthetic pathways of plant species surveyed in Australia’s national terrestrial monitoring network
Supplemental Information
A full list of the studies consulted is provided within the data file. 
Resource Specific Usage
Data not provided. 
Environment Description
Data not provided. 
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 
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Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting 
Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.