EDI Staging Environment
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.
EDI is a collaboration between the University of New Mexico and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Center for Limnology:
