Wallaby Creek FLUXNET Release 2026_r1 

This release consists of flux tower measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer using eddy covariance techniques. Data were processed using PyFluxPro as described by Isaac et al. (2017) for the quality control and post-processing steps. The final, gap-filled product containing Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) partitioned into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (ER) has been produced using the ONEFlux software as described in Pastorello et al (2020). This data set has been produced as part of the FLUXNET Shuttle project.

The Wallaby Creek flux station was located in Kinglake National Park, Victoria, Australia (−37.429, 145.1873), about 45 km northeast of Melbourne at ~720 m elevation within an IUCN Category II protected area. The site lay on the southern edge of the Hume Plateau in a catchment dominated by Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), the world’s tallest flowering plant. Forest stands of 20, 80, and 300 years reflected past fire history, with the tower situated in an old-growth stand.

The region has a cool, temperate climate (4.7–22.5°C; ~1209 mm annual rainfall), frequent fog, and elevations between 460–1100 m. Soils were mainly organic-rich krasnozemic types, varying with altitude and increasing in clay content with depth. Vegetation was tall, wet sclerophyll forest with a ~75 m canopy, a rainforest understorey, and dense fern layers.

Bushfires in 2009 destroyed the tower. Data collection resumed from 2010 to 2016, with reduced instrumentation compared to pre-fire conditions. 

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. 

The research aim of the Wallaby Creek flux station is to understand the complex coupling of carbon, water and energy cycles within Australia's old growth temperate forests over various scales in order to assess the impact of future environmental change including to:
- measure exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapour and energy between an old growth, tall forest and the atmosphere using micrometeorological techniques
- quantify the carbon sink/source of a temperate, old growth Mountain Ash forest and identify the contribution of such forests to the continents' National Carbon Inventory
- provide a database of microclimate and ecological parameters for use in carbon and water modelling projects
- investigate how carbon cycles change over successional time scales (decadal to centennial). 

Data collected using standard eddy covariance and meteorological instrumentation on a 5m tower at the Wallaby Creek site. The data were quality controlled using the PyFluxPro software package, see Isaac et al (2017), which is available at https://github.com/OzFlux/PyFluxPro. Gap filling and partitioning has been done using the ONEFlux software package, see Pastorello et al 2020, which is available at https://github.com/fluxnet/ONEFlux.