This dataset includes estimated plant aboveground live biomass data measured in 1 m x 1 m quadrats at several sites and experiments under the Sevilleta LTER program. Quadrat locations span four distinct ecosystems and their ecotones: creosotebush dominated Chihuahuan Desert shrubland (est. winter 1999), black grama-dominated Chihuahuan Desert grassland (est. winter 1999), blue grama-dominated Plains grassland (est. winter 2002), and pinon-juniper woodland (est. winter 2003). Data on plant cover and height for each plant species are collected per individual plant or patch (for clonal plants) within 1 m x 1 m quadrats. These data inform population dynamics of foundational and rare plant species. Biomass is estimated using plant allometries from non-destructive measurements of plant cover and height, and can be used to calculate net primary production (NPP), a fundamental ecosystem variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of plant species cover, total plant biomass, or NPP can inform understanding of biodiversity, species composition, and energy flow at the community scale of biological organization, as well as spatial and temporal responses of plants to a range of ecological processes and direct experimental manipulations. The cover and height of individual plants or patches are sampled twice yearly (spring and fall) in permanent 1m x 1m plots within each site or experiment. This dataset includes core site monitoring data (CORE, GRIDS, ISOWEB, TOWER), observations in response to wildfire (BURN), and experimental treatments of extreme drought and delayed monsoon rainfall (EDGE), physical disturbance to biological soil crusts on the soil surface (CRUST), interannual variability in precipitation (MEANVAR), intra-annual variability via additions of monsoon rainfall (MRME), additions of nitrogen as ammonium nitrate (FERTILIZER), additions of nitrogen x phosphorus x potassium (NutNet), and interacting effects of nighttime warming, nitrogen addition, and El Niño winter rainfall (WENNDEx). To build allometric equations that relate biomass to plant cover or volume, the dataset "SEV-LTER quadrat plant cover and height data all sites and experiments" is used with a separate dataset of selectively harvested plant species "SEV-LTER Plant species mass data for allometry." Together, these datasets produced “SEV-LTER quadrat plant species biomass all sites and experiments” using the scripts posted with the allometry dataset. Data from the CORE sites in this dataset were designated as NA-US-011 in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD). Data from the TOWER sites in this dataset are linked to Ameriflux sites: ameriflux.lbl.gov/doi/AmeriFlux/US-Seg and ameriflux.lbl.gov/sites/siteinfo/US-Ses.
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Ultra‐high‐resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) occur in drylands globally where they support ecosystem functioning by increasing soil stability, reducing dust emissions and modifying soil resource availability (e.g. water, nutrients). Determining biocrust condition and extent across landscapes continues to present considerable challenges to scientists and land managers. Biocrusts grow in patches, cover vast expanses of rugged terrain and are vulnerable to physical disturbance associated with ground‐based mapping techniques. As such, remote sensing offers promising opportunities to map and monitor biocrusts. While satellite‐based remote sensing has been used to detect biocrusts at relatively large spatial scales, few studies have used high‐resolution imagery from Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to map fine‐scale patterns of biocrusts. We collected sub‐centimeter, true color 3‐band imagery at 10 plots in sagebrush and pinyon‐juniper woodland communities in a semiarid ecosystem in the southwestern US and used object‐based image analysis (OBIA) to segment and classify the imagery into maps of light and dark biocrusts, bare soil, rock and various vegetation covers. We used field data to validate the classifications and assessed the spatial distribution and configuration of different classes using fragmentation metrics. Map accuracies ranged from 46 to 77% (average 65%) and were higher in pinyon‐juniper (average 70%) versus sagebrush (average 60%) plots. Biocrust classes showed generally high accuracies at both pinyon‐juniper plots (average dark crust = 70%; light crust = 80%) and sagebrush plots (average dark crust = 69%; light crust = 77%). Point cloud density, sun elevation and spectral confusion between vegetation cover explained some differences in accuracy across plots. Spatial analyses of classified maps showed that biocrust patches in pinyon‐juniper plots were generally larger, more aggregated and contiguous than in sagebrush plots. Pinyon‐juniper plots also had greater patch richness and a lower Shannon evenness index than sagebrush plots, suggesting greater soil cover heterogeneity in this plant community type.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10454295
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation
- Volume:
- 6
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2056-3485
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 441-456
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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This dataset includes plant species cover and height data measured in 1 m x 1 m quadrats at several sites and experiments under the Sevilleta LTER program. Quadrat locations span four distinct ecosystems and their ecotones: creosotebush dominated Chihuahuan Desert shrubland (est. winter 1999), black grama-dominated Chihuahuan Desert grassland (est. winter 1999), blue grama-dominated Plains grassland (est. winter 2002), and pinon-juniper woodland (est. winter 2003). Data on plant cover and height for each plant species are collected per individual plant or patch (for clonal plants) within 1 m x 1 m quadrats. These data inform population dynamics of foundational and rare plant species. In addition, using plant allometries, these non-destructive measurements of plant cover and height can be used to calculate net primary production (NPP), a fundamental ecosystem variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of plant species cover, total plant biomass, or NPP can inform understanding of biodiversity, species composition, and energy flow at the community scale of biological organization, as well as spatial and temporal responses of plants to a range of ecological processes and direct experimental manipulations. The cover and height of individual plants or patches are sampled twice yearly (spring and fall) in permanent 1m x 1m plots within each site or experiment. This dataset includes core site monitoring data (CORE, GRIDS, ISOWEB, TOWER), observations in response to wildfire (BURN), and experimental treatments of extreme drought and delayed monsoon rainfall (EDGE), physical disturbance to biological soil crusts on the soil surface (CRUST), interannual variability in precipitation (MEANVAR), intra-annual variability via additions of monsoon rainfall (MRME), additions of nitrogen as ammonium nitrate (FERTILIZER), additions of nitrogen x phosphorus x potassium (NutNet), and interacting effects of nighttime warming, nitrogen addition, and El Niño winter rainfall (WENNDEx). To build allometric equations that relate biomass to plant cover or volume, a separate dataset of selectively harvested plant species is provided in "SEV-LTER Plant species mass data for allometry." Together, these datasets produce “SEV-LTER Plant biomass all sites and experiments” using the scripts posted with that dataset. Data from the CORE sites in this dataset were designated as NA-US-011 in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD). Data from the TOWER sites in this dataset are linked to Ameriflux sites: ameriflux.lbl.gov/doi/AmeriFlux/US-Seg and ameriflux.lbl.gov/sites/siteinfo/US-Ses.more » « less
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Abstract The size and frequency of resource pulses can affect plant interactions and increase the abundance of invasive species relative to native species. We examined resource pulses generated during the desiccation and rehydration of communities of native biological soil crust (biocrust)‐forming mosses, in the context of positive associations between biocrusts and the invasive forb,
Centaurea stoebe .We surveyed
Centaurea and biocrust cover and evaluated how interactions amongCentaurea , biocrusts and water pulses influenced plant biomass and soil nitrogen in a field experiment.Centaurea seedling and biocrust interactions were also compared in a greenhouse experiment to evaluate differences related to life stage.In field surveys,
Centaurea and biocrusts were positively associated. Across water pulse treatments, biocrust biomass decreased whenCentaurea was removed, indicating thatCentaurea facilitated biocrusts. Biocrusts did not affect adultCentaurea in the field, butCentaurea seedling biomass was greater when grown with biocrusts in the greenhouse. Water pulses did not affect plant biomass, but interactions betweenCentaurea and biocrusts corresponded with variation in the effect of water pulses on soil nitrogen which were not evident whenCentaurea or biocrusts were grown alone. Twenty‐four hours after large water pulses were added, soilwas nine times higher in plots where biocrusts and Centaurea co‐occurred compared with small water pulse plots. In these same plots, soiltended to be lower at the end of the experiment. These results highlight positive interactions between an invasive exotic forb and native moss biocrust. Water pulses influenced soil nitrogen availability when both plants co‐occurred, but did not affect plant biomass, suggesting that resource pulses and species interactions can interact to affect ecosystem processes.
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Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. -
Introduction In dryland systems, biological soil crusts (biocrusts) can occupy large areas of plant interspaces, where they fix carbon following rain. Although distinct biocrust types contain different dominant photoautotrophs, few studies to date have documented carbon exchange over time from various biocrust types. This is especially true for gypsum soils. Our objective was to assess the carbon exchange of biocrust types established at the world’s largest gypsum dune field at White Sands National Park. Methods We sampled five different biocrust types from a sand sheet location in three different years and seasons (summer 2020, fall 2021, and winter 2022) for carbon exchange measurements in controlled lab conditions. Biocrusts were rehydrated to full saturation and light incubated for 30 min, 2, 6, 12, 24, and 36 h. Samples were then subject to a 12-point light regime with a LI-6400XT photosynthesis system to determine carbon exchange. Results Biocrust carbon exchange values differed by biocrust type, by incubation time since wetting, and by date of field sampling. Lichens and mosses had higher gross and net carbon fixation rates than dark and light cyanobacterial crusts. High respiration rates were found after 0.5 h and 2 h incubation times as communities recovered from desiccation, leveling off after 6 h incubation. Net carbon fixation of all types increased with longer incubation time, primarily as a result of decreasing respiration, which suggests rapid recovery of biocrust photosynthesis across types. However, net carbon fixation rates varied from year to year, likely as a product of time since the last rain event and environmental conditions preceding collection, with moss crusts being most sensitive to environmental stress at our study sites. Discussion Given the complexity of patterns discovered in our study, it is especially important to consider a multitude of factors when comparing biocrust carbon exchange rates across studies. Understanding the dynamics of biocrust carbon fixation in distinct crust types will enable greater precision of carbon cycling models and improved forecasting of impacts of global climate change on dryland carbon cycling and ecosystem functioning.more » « less
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The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) established a network of long-term permanent biogeochemical study plots in 1998. These plots provide long-term data on vegetation, soil and hydrologic processes in the key ecosystem types within the urban ecosystem. The network of study plots includes forest plots (upland and riparian), chosen to represent the range of forest conditions in the area and grass plots (to represent home lawns). Plots are instrumented with lysimeters (drainage and tension) to sample soil solution chemistry, time domain reflectometry probes to measure soil moisture, dataloggers to measure and record soil temperature, and trace gas flux chambers to measure the flux of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane from soil to the atmosphere. Measurements of in situ nitrogen mineralization, nitrification and denitrification were made at approximately monthly intervals from Fall 1998 - Fall 2000. Detailed vegetation characterization (all layers) was done in summer 1998 and 2015. Data from these plots has been published in Groffman et al. (2006, 2009), Groffman and Pouyat (2009), Savva et al. (2010), Costa and Groffman (2013), Duncan et al. (2013), Waters et al. (2014), Ni and Groffman (2018), Templeton et al. (2019). Literature Cited Costa, K.H. and P.M. Groffman. 2013. Factors regulating net methane flux in urban forests and grasslands. Soil Science Society of America Journal 77:850 - 855. Duncan, J. M., L. E. Band, and P. M. Groffman. 2013. Towards closing the watershed nitrogen budget: Spatial and temporal scaling of denitrification. Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences 118:1-5; DOI: 10.1002/jgrg.20090 Groffman PM, Pouyat RV, Cadenasso ML, Zipperer WC, Szlavecz K, Yesilonis IC,. Band LE and Brush GS. 2006. Land use context and natural soil controls on plant community composition and soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics in urban and rural forests. Forest Ecology and Management 236:177-192. Groffman, P.M., C.O. Williams, R.V. Pouyat, L.E. Band and I.C. Yesilonis. 2009. Nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide flux in urban forests and grasslands. Journal of Environmental Quality 38:1848-1860. Groffman, P.M. and R.V. Pouyat. 2009. Methane uptake in urban forests and lawns. Environmental Science and Technology 43:5229-5235. DOI: 10.1021/es803720h. Ni, X. and P.M. Groffman. 2018. Declines in methane uptake in forest soils. Proceedings of the National Academies of Science of the United States of America 115:8587-8590. Savva, Y., K. Szlavecz, R. V. Pouyat, P. M. Groffman, and G. Heisler. 2010. Effects of land use and vegetation cover on soil temperature in an urban ecosystem. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74:469-480. Templeton, L., M.L. Cadenasso, J. Sullivan, M. Neel and P.M. Groffman. 2019. Changes in vegetation structure and composition of urban and rural forest patches in Baltimore from 1998 to 2015. Forest Ecology and Management. In press. Waters, E.R., J.L. Morse, N.D. Bettez and P.M. Groffman. 2014. Differential carbon and nitrogen controls of denitrification in riparian zones and streams along an urban to exurban gradient. Journal of Environmental Quality 43:955–963.more » « less
