Ecosystem surveillance monitoring is critical to managing natural resources and especially so under changing environments. Despite this importance, the design and implementation of monitoring programs across large temporal and spatial scales has been hampered by the lack of appropriately standardized methods and data streams. To address this gap, we outline a surveillance monitoring method based on permanent plots and voucher samples suited to rangeland environments around the world that is repeatable, cost-effective, appropriate for large-scale comparisons, and adaptable to other global biomes. The method provides comprehensive data on vegetation composition and structure along with soil attributes relevant to plant growth, delivered as a combination of modules that can be targeted for different purposes or available resources. Plots are located in a stratified design across vegetation units, landforms, and climates to enhance continental and global comparisons. Changes are investigated through revisits. Vegetation is measured to inform on composition, cover, and structure. Samples of vegetation and soils are collected and tracked by barcode labels and stored long-term for subsequent analysis. Technology is used to enhance the accuracy of field methods, including differential GPS plot locations, instrument-based Leaf Area Index (LAI) measures, and three dimensional photo-panoramas for advanced analysis. A key feature of the method is the use of electronic field data collection to enhance data delivery into a publicly accessible database. Our method is pragmatic, whilst still providing consistent data, information, and samples on key vegetation and soil attributes. The method is operational and has been applied at more than 704 field locations across the Australian rangelands as part of the Ecosystem Surveillance program of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). The methodology enables continental analyses and has been tested in communities broadly representative of rangelands globally, with components being applicable to other biomes. Here we also recommend the consultative process and guiding principles that drove the development of this method as an approach for development of the method into other biomes. The consistent, standardized and objective method enables continental, and potentially global analyses than were not previously possible with disparate programs and datasets.

中文翻译：

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一种用于草地环境监测的植被和土壤调查方法

生态系统监测对于管理自然资源至关重要，尤其是在不断变化的环境中。尽管如此重要，但由于缺乏适当的标准化方法和数据流，跨大时空尺度的监测计划的设计和实施受到了阻碍。为了解决这一差距，我们概述了一种基于适合世界各地牧场环境的永久性地块和凭证样本的监测方法，该方法具有可重复性、成本效益、适用于大规模比较并适用于其他全球生物群落。该方法提供了关于植被组成和结构以及与植物生长相关的土壤属性的综合数据，作为可针对不同目的或可用资源的模块组合提供。地块位于不同植被单元、地形和气候的分层设计中，以加强大陆和全球的比较。通过重新访问来调查变化。测量植被以了解组成、覆盖和结构。植被和土壤样本通过条形码标签收集和跟踪，并长期存储以备后续分析。技术用于提高田间方法的准确性，包括差分 GPS 绘图位置、基于仪器的叶面积指数 (LAI) 测量以及用于高级分析的三维全景照片。该方法的一个关键特征是使用电子现场数据收集来增强将数据传送到可公开访问的数据库中。我们的方法是务实的，同时仍然提供关于关键植被和土壤属性的一致数据、信息和样本。作为陆地生态系统研究网络 (TERN) 生态系统监测计划的一部分，该方法已投入使用，并已在澳大利亚牧场的 704 多个野外地点得到应用。该方法支持大陆分析，并已在广泛代表全球牧场的社区中进行了测试，其组件适用于其他生物群落。在这里，我们还推荐了推动这种方法发展的协商过程和指导原则，作为将该方法发展到其他生物群落的一种方法。一致、标准化和客观的方法使大陆和潜在的全球分析成为可能，而不是以前使用不同的程序和数据集是不可能的。