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The Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA) is an extensive field survey and integrated inventory designed to capture key ecological indicators of the CAP LTER study area consisting of the urbanized, suburbanized, and agricultural areas of metropolitan Phoenix, and the surrounding Sonoran desert. The survey, formerly known as the survey 200 and renamed to ESCA in 2015, assesses conditions at approximately 200 sample plots (30m x 30m) that were located randomly using a tessellation-stratified dual-density sampling design. Beginning in 2000, the study is conducted every five years except the 2020 survey, which was conducted in 2023 owing to delays to due Covid. Study plots cover habitats throughout the CAP LTER study area ranging from native Sonoran desert sites to residential yards to an airport tarmac. Measurements include an inventory of all plants (identified to the lowest possible taxonomic unit, typically species), plant biovolume, soil coring for physicochemical properties, arthropod sweep-net sampling, photo documentation, and a visual survey of site and area characteristics. The objectives of the survey are to (1) characterize patches in terms of key biotic, physical, and chemical variables, and (2) examine relationships among land use, general plant diversity, native plant diversity, plant biovolume, soil nutrient status, and social-economic indices along an indirect urban gradient. A pilot survey was conducted in 1999, and the first full ESCA was conducted in 2000. The maiden survey in 2000 featured a suite of measurements that were not assessed in later surveys, including data from a portable weather station set up during the field survey at each location, organic matter decomposition, pollen, and mycorrhizae. In 2010, the survey was expanded to include an assessment of one of the residential parcels overlapping the survey plot at sites in residential areas. Many of the same variables that are measured in the 30m x 30m survey plot are measured in the parcel, including an inventory of perennial plants, and the biovolume of trees. In addition, a detailed assessment of characteristics of the parcel is performed. Investigators interested in the additional variables assessed in the 2000 ESCA, in parcel data collected in the 2010 and subsequent surveys, or in soil data collected during the 2000 ESCA (encapsulated in a separate data set owing to a different reporting format) should search for 'ecological survey of central arizona' (quoted!) in the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) data catalog to locate those and other data related to the Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA).
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Ecological Survey of Central Arizona: a survey of key ecological indicators in parcels of residential areas in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, ongoing since 2010
The Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA) is an extensive field survey and integrated inventory designed to capture key ecological indicators of the CAP LTER study area consisting of the urbanized, suburbanized, and agricultural areas of metropolitan Phoenix and the surrounding Sonoran desert. The survey is conducted every five years at approximately 200 sample plots (30m x 30m) that were located randomly using a tessellation-stratified, dual-density sampling design. Study plots cover habitats throughout the CAP LTER study area ranging from native Sonoran desert sites to residential yards to an airport tarmac. In 2010, the survey was expanded to include an assessment of residential parcels overlapping the survey plot at sites in residential areas. Many of the same variables that are measured in the 30m x 30m survey plot are measured in the parcel, including an inventory of perennial plants, and the biovolume of trees. In addition, a detailed assessment of characteristics of the parcel is performed. Investigators interested in data from the broader Ecological Survey of Central Arizona that includes all survey plots can find those data in the Environmental Data Initiative data repository at [this](https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-cap&identifier=652) link.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2224662
- PAR ID:
- 10668751
- Publisher / Repository:
- Environmental Data Initiative
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA) is an extensive field survey and integrated inventory designed to capture key ecological indicators of the CAP LTER study area consisting of the urbanized, suburbanized, and agricultural areas of metropolitan Phoenix, and the surrounding Sonoran desert. The survey, formerly known as the survey 200 and renamed to ESCA in 2015, assesses conditions at approximately 200 sample plots (30m x 30m) that were located randomly using a tessellation-stratified dual-density sampling design. Beginning in 2000, the study is conducted every five years except the 2020 survey, which was conducted in 2023 owing to delays to due Covid. Study plots cover habitats throughout the CAP LTER study area ranging from native Sonoran desert sites to residential yards to an airport tarmac. Measurements include an inventory of all plants (identified to the lowest possible taxonomic unit, typically species), plant biovolume, soil coring for physicochemical properties, arthropod sweep-net sampling, photo documentation, and a visual survey of site and area characteristics. The objectives of the survey are to (1) characterize patches in terms of key biotic, physical, and chemical variables, and (2) examine relationships among land use, general plant diversity, native plant diversity, plant biovolume, soil nutrient status, and social-economic indices along an indirect urban gradient. A pilot survey was conducted in 1999, and the first full ESCA was conducted in 2000. The maiden survey in 2000 featured a suite of measurements that were not assessed in later surveys, including data from a portable weather station set up during the field survey at each location, organic matter decomposition, pollen, and mycorrhizae. In 2010, the survey was expanded to include an assessment of one of the residential parcels overlapping the survey plot at sites in residential areas. Many of the same variables that are measured in the 30m x 30m survey plot are measured in the parcel, including an inventory of perennial plants, and the biovolume of trees. In addition, a detailed assessment of characteristics of the parcel is performed. Investigators interested in the additional variables assessed in the 2000 ESCA, in parcel data collected in the 2010 and subsequent surveys, or in soil data collected during the 2000 ESCA (encapsulated in a separate data set owing to a different reporting format) should search for 'ecological survey of central arizona' (quoted!) in the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) data catalog to locate those and other data related to the Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA).more » « less
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