This study investigated the question, "Does climate change affect vegetation and seed bank composition in desert grasslands?" The work was done in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA, in in the Extreme Drought in Grassland Experiment (EDGE). Vegetation and seed bank species composition were recorded in black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda) and blue grama (B. gracilis) grasslands at Sevilleta. At each site, two rainfall manipulations and ambient controls were established in 2013 (n=10). Treatments included extreme drought (-66% rainfall reduction) and delayed monsoon (precipitation captured during July-August and reapplied during September-October). Aboveground species composition was assessed and composite soil samples were collected in 2017, five years after the experiment started. Seed bank composition was evaluated using the seedling emergence method. Rainfall treatments increased aboveground species richness at both sites, and seed bank richness only in the blue grama community. Vegetation cover was reduced by both rainfall manipulations, but seed bank density increased or remained the same compared with controls. In aboveground vegetation, cover of annual and perennial forbs increased, and dominant perennial grasses decreased. In the soil seed bank, species composition was similar among all treatments and was dominated by annual and perennial forbs. The seed bank was more resistant to drought than aboveground vegetation. Because seed banks enhance long-term community stability, their drought resistance plays an important role in maintaining ecosystem processes during and following drought in these grassland communities.
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SEV-LTER Plant Traits Database
This dataset contains measurements of morphological (leaf, stem, root, and seed), nutrient, and isotopic traits for plant species growing in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Approximately 104 species were sampled in or near four core sites of the SEV-LTER (core_blue, core_black, core_creosote, and core_PJ) plus the Sevilleta Field Station between 2017 and 2021. In addition, seed masses were measured from a 2016-era seed collection provided by Jenny Noble and added to the dataset; for these, site = NA.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1655499
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10423437
- Publisher / Repository:
- Environmental Data Initiative
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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This dataset includes field-collected spectral reflectance of dominant vegetation species in grassland and shrubland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge collected monthly May – September 2019. A spectroradiometer was used to collect the percent spectral reflectance of electromagnetic radiation (range 400-2500nm) of a sample of dominant vegetation species ("spectra"), yielding a spectral curve for each species. At least ten individuals per species were sampled. These data form a spectral library which was used to calibrate a multiple-endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) of satellite imagery of the Sevilleta NWR, as part of an ongoing collaboration between the LTER and the Center for the Advancement of Spatial Informatics Research and Education (ASPIRE). Ultimately, we aim to produce fractional images of green vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation, bare soil, and shade to form a synoptic thirty-year record of vegetation dynamics at the Refuge. The spectral library can be referenced by future researchers using remote sensing methods to examine vegetation dynamics at the Sevilleta NWR.more » « less
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