Re-curating a 90-year ecological data collection from an Australian arid zone enclosure according to FAIR principles

This paper describes the re-curation of a 90-year legacy data collection from the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve in South Australia, first published by Dr Russ Sinclair in an open digital repository in 2014. Data collections such as this are rare, unrepeatable, and provide benchmarks against which the otherwise changing landscape can be measured. The work was necessitated by increasing sophistication in data repository systems, better understanding of the factors that make data reusable, demands of users, and the death of a key knowledge-holder. Updating a data resource that adhered to data standards of a decade ago, however, was not trivial. The data required cleaning and aligning with community standard vocabularies, with particular attention to the creation of comprehensive metadata. The lack of a knowledgeable custodian highlighted the need for an active relationship between the data creators and the repository. The updated dataset is now compliant with the FAIR Data Principles and provides an invaluable resource for the understanding and sustainable use of arid rangelands worldwide.