Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. Introductory chapters : General overview / David Lindenmayer, Emma Burns, Nicole Thurgate and Andrew Lowe -- The value of long-term research and how to design effective ecological research and monitoring / David Lindenmayer, Emma Burns, Nicole Thurgate and Andrew Lowe -- Our capacity to tell an Australian ecological story / Ben Sparrow, Eleanor Dormontt, Nicole Thurgate, Emma Burns, David Lindenmayer and Andrew Lowe -- The cultural imperative: broadening the vision of long-term ecological monitoring to enhance environmental policy and management outcomes / Emilie Ens, Emma Burns, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Ben Sparrow and Glenda Wardle -- Part 2. Data chapters : Tropical rainforests of eastern Australia / Daniel Metcalfe, Michael Liddell, Matt Bradford and Peter Green -- Alpine ecosystems / Richard Williams, Warwick Papst, Keith McDougall, Ian Mansergh, Dean Heinze, James Camac, Michael Nash, John Morgan and Ary Hoffman -- Heathlands / David Keith, David Lindenmayer, Andrew Lowe, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Sarah Barrett, Neal Enright, Barry Fox, Greg Guerin, David Paton, Mark Tozer and Colin Yates -- Temperate eucalypt woodlands / David Lindenmayer, Suzanne Prober, Mason Crane, Damian Michael, Sachiko Okada, Geoff Kay, David Keith, Rebecca Montague-Drake and Emma Burns -- North Australian tropical savannas: the Three Parks Savanna Fire-Effects Plot Network / Jeremy Russell-Smith, Andrew Edwards, John Woinarski, Alaric Fisher, Brett Murphy, Mike Lawes, Beth Crase and Nicole Thurgate -- Desert complex environments / Christopher Dickman, Glenda Wardle, Jeff Foulkes and Nicki de Preu -- Chenopod and acacia shrublands / Jeff Foulkes, Nicki de Preu, Russell Sinclair, Nicole Thurgate, Ben Sparrow and Andrew White -- Tussock grasslands / Andrew White, David Orr, Paul Novelly and Gary Bastin -- Tall eucalypt forests / Sam Wood, David Bowman, Lynda Prior, David Lindenmayer, Tim Wardlaw and Richard Robinson -- Part 3. Synopsis / David Lindenmayer, Emma Burns, Nicole Thurgate, Andrew Lowe, Chris Dickman, Eleanor Dormontt, Emilie Ens, Jeff Foulkes, Ary Hoffman, David Keith, Michael Liddell, Daniel Metcalfe, Jeremy Russell-Smith, Ben Sparrow, Glenda Wardle, Andrew White, Richard Williams and Sam Wood.