Research data and related documents, 1939-2000

Component identifier:

Series 2

Content Summary:

This series comprises an extensive collection of various kinds of data used in Costin's research, such as numerical data, field notes, graphs and tables together with related correspondence, publications and other documents. This broad range of records address Costin's research in the following areas:

* Alpine, sub-alpine and polar ecology

* Hydrology

* Soil science

* Historical ecology - including research on glaciation and on the role of past climates in the ecology of the Australian Alps

* Resource management - including research on soil conservation, water management, effects of grazing, and fire

* Biogeography - in particular the study of the interaction of vegetation and the wider environment (sometimes referred to as "Phytogeography")

Several files in this series contain data collected from the plots and quadrats (small demarcated areas up to a few square meters in area) and transects (lines along which a series of quadrats are placed) that Costin established to measure long-term changes in vegetation and to inform studies of the hydrology in in Australian high mountain areas. These inventory items variously include data sheets, notes, tables, graphs, maps, grazing measurements dating from the 1950s through to the 1980s, relating to the Kosciusko area, Curruthers, Gungartan, Boggy Plains North, Yarrangobilly and other locations.

The series also contains a broad selection of other related records which provide important context for the research data. One such related record is an official CSIRO file, dating from 1967 to 1968, which includes correspondence, references and photographs regarding the development of air-borne radiometers for measuring the main terms of the energy budget equation to determine evapotranspiration over extensive vegetation surfaces. The documents in this file serve to contextualise several charts - included in this series - which were produced by similar air-borne instruments in flights over Mt Gambier, Jounama State Forest, Black Mountain, Cotter Valley and other locations in the mid-1960s.

The records contained in this series provide information for researchers wishing to study the ongoing historical changes in Australian vegetation, hydrology and soils particularly in high mountain areas in NSW and Victoria. They also provide important insights into how various methodologies, techniques and equipment were developed to address environmental science and natural resource management research in Australia.

Immediate source of acquisition:

This large and diverse collection was compiled by Alec Costin then organised and catalogued by the eScholarship Research Centre at The University of Melbourne from 2017-2019. The collection was then transferred to the National Library of Australia in 2020.

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