Brief description
In the mid-1920's Professor Theodore George Bentley (TGB) 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 (Osborn, 1925). In 1925 negotiations proceeded between the University of Adelaide and Messrs Hamilton Wilcox Ltd to secure a parcel of land for the purposes of research on Koonamore Station, a sheep-grazing property approximately 400 km north-east of Adelaide. A parcel of land of around 390ha was identified and fenced to exclude rabbits and other stock. 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.This record is a collection of flora and fauna observations conducted in the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve (or Koonamore Vegetation Reserve).
These records are organised accordingly :
Lineage
The data presented throughout is observational. For detailed methodology please refer to each preview document, accessible through the following records:
Progress Code: onGoing
Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned
Notes
CreditWe 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 University of Adelaide.
Purpose
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.
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.
Created: 1907-07-16
Issued: 2025-07-10
Modified: 2025-12-11
Data time period: 1907-07-16
text: The Reserve is located in the Koonamore Station, a sheep-grazing lease 400 km north-east of Adelaide, South Australia in predominantly chenopod shrubland with mean annual rainfall of about 200mm.
Subjects
< 1 meter |
AGRICULTURE |
ANIMAL ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR |
ANIMAL SCIENCE |
Animal Behaviour |
Atriplex L. |
Atriplex vesicaria Heward ex Benth. |
Biological Sciences |
BIOSPHERE |
Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology |
COMMUNITY DYNAMICS |
Capra |
Cassia Corner |
Centimetre |
Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) |
EARTH SCIENCE |
ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS |
Ecology |
Enclosure |
Fauna Surveys |
Flora Surveys |
GRAZING DYNAMICS / PLANT ECOLOGY |
GRAZING DYNAMICS/PLANT HERBIVORY |
Grazing Exclusion Experiment |
INVASIVE SPECIES |
KVR |
Kangaroo Activity |
Kangaroo Scat |
Koonamore Station |
Long-term Monitoring |
Macropus |
Myoporum Individual |
Myoporum platycarpum R.Br. |
Number |
Oryctolagus_cuniculus |
Photopoint |
Population Ecology |
Rabbit Warren |
SPECIES DISTRIBUTION |
SPECIES RECRUITMENT |
SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS |
Saltbush Transect |
Senna Mill. |
Senna artemisioides (Gaudich. ex DC.) Randell |
Senna artemisioides subsp. x petiolaris Randell |
Senna populations |
TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve |
Terrestrial Ecology |
Unitless |
VEGETATION COVER |
Zoology |
animal life stage (Unitless) |
animal scat count (Number) |
biota |
crown diameter (EW) (Centimetre) |
crown diameter (NS) (Centimetre) |
environment |
fresh scat count (Number) |
goat pellet count (Number) |
irregular |
old scat count (Number) |
plant count (Number) |
plant height (Centimetre) |
plant mortality (Unitless) |
scientific name (Unitless) |
sex (Unitless) |
sheep pellet count (Number) |
warren count (Number) |
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Point-of-truth metadata URL Identifiers
- URI : geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/b5d744de-1ea7-5cb8-9569-0849796d7d7b
- global : b5d744de-1ea7-5cb8-9569-0849796d7d7b
