10.0311/FK2/9724609071A836FB8C673E595D714DAA
Peters, Debra
Huenneke, Laura
Net Primary Production (NPP) Study at Jornada Basin LTER, non-destructive quadrat measurements, 1989-2018
Environmental Data Initiative
2019
dataPackage
eng
https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/eml/knb-lter-jrn/210011002/1
This data package contains non-destructive quadrat measurement data
collected for the long-term Net Primary Productivity study at the
Jornada Basin LTER. Standing vegetation in quadrats is sampled three
times a year: in winter (February - March), before shrubs begin spring
growth; in spring (May), when shrubs and spring annuals have reached
peak biomass; in fall (late summer; October), when summer annuals have
reached peak biomass but before killing frosts. At each sample date,
each site is visited (order of sampling may vary, according to
phenological stage of sites) and the dimensions of each plant on each
quadrat are measured and recorded. Recorded for each observation are:
date, zone, plot, quadrat #, species (4 letter acronym), observation #
(one for each measurement of that species in that quadrat), cover
(percentage of quadrat covered by canopy of that individual or
species), height (vertical extent of that individual or species),
count (if multiple individuals with the same dimensions are present),
and phenological stage (Flowering/fruiting or Vegetative). Attention:
These data are not appropriate for estimates of percentage cover.
NPP-associated percent cover measurements were developed for and are
used solely to provide the best estimate of biomass production.
Because the methodology results in measurements of overlapping
subcanopy systems and canopies of adjacent individuals, NPP percent
cover measurements are not an appropriate measure of actual aerial
plant cover. Doing so will result in inflated numbers for the
"actual" vegetative cover. This is an ongoing dataset
with new quadrat measurements collected in the spring, fall and winter
of each year.