This data package contains leaf litter cover data from plots with various levels of herbivore exclusion on the Jornada Experimental Range. Study sites were established in 1995; one in black grama grassland and the other in creosotebush shrubland to compare the impact of herbivores on ecosystem processes between these vegetation types. Parallel studies were established at the Sevilleta LTER site (New Mexico, USA) and Mapimi Biosphere Reserve (Durango, Mexico). Each study site is 1 km by 0.5 km in area. Four replicate experimental blocks were randomly located at the grassland study site to measure vegetation responses using exclusion treatments including a) all mammalian herbivores, including cattle, lagomorphs, and rodents, b) lagomorphs and cattle only, c) cattle only, and d) control accessible to all herbivores. Because grazing cattle are excluded from the entire creosote site, only three replicate experimental blocks were randomly located there including a) all mammalian herbivores, including lagomorphs, and rodents, b) lagomorphs only, and c) control accessible to all herbivores. Thirty-six sampling points were positioned at 5.8-meter intervals on a systematically located 6 by 6 point grid within each plot. A permanent one-meter by one-meter vegetation measurement quadrat is located at each of the 36 points. Each year in spring and fall from 1995-2005, the total percent cover of leaf litter in each quadrat was estimated by summing the percent of each 10 cm square within a quadrat (including 100 10-cm squares) containing leaf litter (See methods for a detailed explanation). After 2005, sampling frequency changed to every 5 years. This study is ongoing.
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Below-Ground Net Primary Production (BNPP): Root Ingrowth Donuts in Chihuahuan Desert Grassland and Creosote Shrubland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico
In 2005, annually harvested root ingrowth donut structures were co-located with previously established mini-rhizotron tubes established at four sites on McKenzie Flats located on the east side of Sevilleta NWR: 10 replicate structures in both burned and unburned blue and black grama dominated grassland plots at Deep Well, 10 replicates each on nitrogen fertilization plots and respective control plots on McKenzie Flats(20 total), 10 replicates in creosote dominated shrubland at the Five Points Creosote Core site and in 2011, 13 structures were put in the Monsoon site. Roots and soil are harvested annually in late fall after the growing season, and structures are reestablished in situ for consecutive harvests each year. Each structure allows roots to be harvested at two depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) to estimate root production, or below ground net primary productivity. In order to compare estimates of root production from two methods, root ingrowth donuts were collocated with mini-rhizotron tubes at all localities except for the burned grassland plot at Deep Well.
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- PAR ID:
- 10424124
- Publisher / Repository:
- Environmental Data Initiative
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Predicted climate change extremes, such as severe and prolonged drought, may profoundly impact biogeochemical processes like carbon and nitrogen cycling in water-limited ecosystems. To increase our understanding of how extreme climate events impact belowground ecosystem processes, we investigated the effects of five years of severe growing season drought and two-month delay in monsoon precipitation on belowground productivity and biogeochemical processes in two semi-arid grasslands. This experiment takes place during the fifth year of the Extreme Drought in Grassland Experiment (EDGE) at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR), a Long-Term Ecological Research in central New Mexico, USA. The two grassland sites a Chihuahuan Desert grassland dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda and Great Plains grassland dominated by B. gracilis are ~5km apart in the SWNR. The EDGE platform was established in the spring of 2012 (pre-treatment). Each site contains three treatments (ten replicates): ambient rainfall, extreme growing season drought, and delayed monsoon. The extreme drought treatment reduces growing season rainfall (April through September) each year by 66%, which equates to a 50% reduction of annual precipitation while maintaining natural precipitation patterns. There are 10 replicates per treatment within each site. All plots are 3 x 4 m in size and are paired spatially into blocks with treatments assigned randomly within a block. We measured an array of belowground and biogeochemical variables. Each variable was measured either once, twice, or three times (specific information on sampling scheme for each measured variable in methods section). Belowground net primary productivity, standing crop root biomass, total organic carbon, and total nitrogen were measured once. Extractable organic carbon, extractable total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen and extracellular enzymes were measured twice. Available soil nitrate, available soil ammonium, and available soil phosphate were measured three times.more » « less
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