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Combined data on plant species abundance and composition from LTER and other grasslands in the United States, 1943 - 2010

General Information
Data Package:
Local Identifier:edi.358.3
Title:Combined data on plant species abundance and composition from LTER and other grasslands in the United States, 1943 - 2010
Alternate Identifier:edi.358
Alternate Identifier:DOI PLACE HOLDER
Abstract:

Understanding how biotic mechanisms confer stability in variable environments is a fundamental quest in ecology, and one that is becoming increasingly urgent with global change. Several mechanisms, notably a portfolio effect associated with species richness, compensatory dynamics generated by negative species covariance and selection for stable dominant species populations can increase the stability of the overall community. While the importance of these mechanisms is debated, few studies have contrasted their importance in an environmental context. We compiled nine long-term datasets of grassland species composition to evaluate the strength of biotic mechanisms of community stability and assess how these mechanisms change across precipitation gradients. Data were collected in replicate plots over time at nine different sites throughout the US (replicates within a site range from 5-100, plot sizes from 0.1 m² to 17 m²; minimum 9 years, maximum 30 years). Species abundance was measured as either percent cover, biomass, or allometrically-derived biomass. At all sites the measurement techniques and management regimes remained constant over the collection period, and the data collection methods were not relativized. For example, sites in which species composition were measured as percent cover do not require their estimates to sum to 100. For sites with long-term experimental treatments, only the control plots were included.

These data have been presented in: Lauren M. Hallett, Joanna S. Hsu, Elsa E. Cleland, Scott L. Collins, Timothy L. Dickson, Emily C. Farrer, Laureano A. Gherardi, Katherine L. Gross, Richard J. Hobbs, Laura Turnbull, Katharine N. Suding. 2014. Biotic mechanisms of community stability shift along a precipitation gradient. Ecology 95:1693–1700. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/13-0895.1

Short Name:Hallett 2012, LTER grassland species composition
Publication Date:2019-04-10
Language:English

Time Period
Begin:
1943
End:
2010

People and Organizations
Contact:Hallett, Lauren M  [  email ]
Creator:Hallett, Lauren M 
Creator:Hsu, Joanna S 
Creator:Cleland, Elsa E 
Creator:Collins, Scott L 
Creator:Diskson, Timothy L 
Creator:Farrer, Emily C 
Creator:Gherardi, Laureano A 
Creator:Gross, Katherine L 
Creator:Hobbs, Richard J 
Creator:Turnbull, Laura 
Creator:Suding, Katherine N 
Creator:Bartolome, James 
Creator:Hopkinson, Peter 

Data Entities
Data Table Name:
Hallett et al, 2012, compiled plant composition from 9 grasslands
Description:
compiled long-term datasets of grassland species composition, 9 sites. abundance as percent cover or biomass (some allometric)
Detailed Metadata

Data Entities

Data Table

Data:https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/edi/358/3/5a9c0695f6641848bc17fd8a43b6ec74
Name:Hallett et al, 2012, compiled plant composition from 9 grasslands
Description:compiled long-term datasets of grassland species composition, 9 sites. abundance as percent cover or biomass (some allometric)
Number of Records:34869
Number of Columns:17

Table Structure
Object Name:LTER-grasslands-master-2012v2.csv
Size:5395236 byte
Authentication:6dc17270ee5c7edcc52c23324b3dc52f Calculated By MD5
Text Format:
Number of Header Lines:1
Record Delimiter:\r\n
Orientation:column
Simple Delimited:
Field Delimiter:,
Quote Character:"

Table Column Descriptions
 Site SubplotSpeciesYear Old SpeciesLocationExperiment nameStudy locationPlotSubplotPlot + subplotSpecies AbundanceUnit for abundance measurementTaxonomic familyDuration (life history)Growth FormDetails of life historyDetails of the growth form
Column Name:sitesubplot  
species  
year  
oldSpecies  
location  
experiment  
site  
plot  
subplot  
subplota  
abundance  
unitAbund  
family  
duration  
growth  
durationDetail  
growthDetail  
Definition:Unique replicate nameGenus and species name, or Genus sp. if species unknown. Current as of 2012Year data were collectedOriginal (or previous) name for this species. Names were sometimes updated during the collection period, or between collection and compilation.Abbreviations match those in Table 1. CDR = Cedar Creek, KBS = Kellogg Biological Station, KNZ = Konza Prairie, JRN = Jornada Basin, JRG = Jasper Ridge, SEV = Sevilleta, SGS = Short Grass Steppe, VC = Vasco CavesExperimental field or treatment name. All data reflect the control data from larger experimentsStudy location and experiment combinedReplicate plot name from the studyReplicate subplot within a plot, if appropriateCombined plot and subplot valuesAbundance of a species, when present (see unit column)biomassg_m2 = grass of biomass per square meter; area_cm2 = area covered in cm; percentcover = percent cover; pointcounts = point hit countsFamily of the recorded speciesLife history of the recorded species (annual or perennial)Growth form of the recorded species (forb/herb, graminoid, grass, vine)More detailed life history of the recorded species (combinations of annual, biennial, perennial)forb/herb; graminoid; subshrub; vine
Storage Type:string  
string  
date  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
Measurement Type:nominalnominaldateTimenominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominal
Measurement Values Domain:
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
FormatYYYY
Precision
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionnumber as text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Definitionany text
Missing Value Code:                              
Code.
Explduration detail is unknown
  
Accuracy Report:                                  
Accuracy Assessment:                                  
Coverage:                                  
Methods:                                  

Data Package Usage Rights

This data package is released to the "public domain" under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 "No Rights Reserved" (see: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). It is considered professional etiquette to provide attribution of the original work if this data package is shared in whole or by individual components. A generic citation is provided for this data package on the website https://portal.edirepository.org (herein "website") in the summary metadata page. Communication (and collaboration) with the creators of this data package is recommended to prevent duplicate research or publication. This data package (and its components) is made available "as is" and with no warranty of accuracy or fitness for use. The creators of this data package and the website shall not be liable for any damages resulting from misinterpretation or misuse of the data package or its components. Periodic updates of this data package may be available from the website. Thank you.

Keywords

By Thesaurus:
LTER Controlled Vocabulary v1abundance, biomass, grassland, plant species composition, species diversity
(No thesaurus)biomass, Cedar Creek LTER, compensatory dynamics, cross-site synthesis, Hayes Kansas, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Jornada Basin LTER, Kellogg Biological Station LTER, Konza Prairie LTER, Long-term Ecological Research Network, Sevilleta LTER, Short Grass Steppe LTER, stability, Vasco Caves Regional Park

Methods and Protocols

These methods, instrumentation and/or protocols apply to all data in this dataset:

Methods and protocols used in the collection of this data package
Description:
Data were collected in replicate plots over time at nine different sites throughout the US (Table 1; replicates within a site range from 5-100, plot sizes from 0.1 m² to 17 m²; minimum 9 years, maximum 30 years). Species abundance was measured as either percent cover, biomass, or allometrically-derived biomass. At all sites the measurement techniques and management regimes remained constant over the collection period, and the data collection methods were not relativized. For example, sites in which species composition were measured as percent cover do not require their estimates to sum to 100. For sites with long-term experimental treatments, only the control plots were included.
Description:
Table 1. Summary of data sets. Percent cover data sets were only included if their abundance values were not forced to sum to 100. Species composition was measured annually on permanent plots with the exception of CDR and KBS, where species composition was measured via destructive biomass harvests and consequently plot location varied slightly each year.

  1. CDR, Cedar Creek LTER: Sampled 1982-2004; N replicate Plots - 5; Plot size - 0.3 m2; Method - Biomass (g/m2). Annually burned old-field. Field D, no nutrients added plots (Tilman 1993)
  2. HAY Hayes, Kansas: Sampled 1943-1972 ; N replicate Plots - 13;Plot size - 1 m2; Method - Percent cover Tallgrass prairie. Continuously-sampled plots (Adler et al. 2007)
  3. JRG Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve: Sampled 1983-2010; N replicate Plots - 18; Plot size - 1 m2 ; Method - Percent cover. Serpentine grassland. Control plots, (Hobbs et al. 2007)
  4. JRN Jornada Basin LTER: Sampled 1989-2008; N replicate Plots - 48; Plot size - 1 m2; Method - Allometric biomass (g/m2). Desert grassland. Grassland Basin site (Huenneke et al. 2002)
  5. KBS Kellogg Biological Station LTER: Sampled 1999-2009; N replicate Plots - 30; Plot size - 1 m2; Method - Biomass (g/m2). Old-field. Dataset ID: KBS019, T7 plots (Huberty et al. 1998)
  6. KNZ Konza Prairie LTER: Sampled 1983-2006; N replicate Plots - 20; Plot size - 10 m2; Method - Percent cover Annually burned. tallgrass prairie. Dataset ID: PVC02, watershed 1D (Collins 2000)
  7. SEV Sevilleta LTER: Sampled 1999-2011; N replicate Plots - 22; Plot size - 0.1 m2; Method - Biomass (g/m2) Desert grassland. Dataset ID: SEV187 SGS Short Grass Steppe LTER 1995-2008 100 0.1 m2 Percent cover. Ungrazed shortgrass steppe. Dataset ID: ARS #32 Grazing and Soil Texture experiment
  8. VC Vasco Cave Regional Park: Sampled 2002-2010; N replicate Plots - 6; Plot size - 17 m2; Method - Percent cover (transects). Valley Grassland. Courtesy of James Bartolome.

Literature Cited

Adler, P. B., W. R. Tyburczy, and W. K. Lauenroth. 2007. Long-term mapped quadrats from Kansas prairie: demographic information for herbaceous plants. Ecology 88:2673-2673.

Collins, S. L. 2000. Disturbance frequency and community stability in native tallgrass prairie. American Naturalist 155:311-325.

Hobbs, R. J., S. Yates, and H. A. Mooney. 2007. Long-term data reveal complex dynamics in grassland in relation to climate and disturbance. Ecological Monographs 77:545-568.

Huberty, L. E., K. L. Gross, and C. J. Miller. 1998. Effects of nitrogen addition on successional dynamics and species diversity in Michigan old-fields. Journal of Ecology 86:794-803.

Huenneke, L. F., J. P. Anderson, M. Remmenga, and W. H. Schlesinger. 2002. Desertification alters patterns of aboveground net primary production in Chihuahuan ecosystems. Global Change Biology 8:247-264.

Tilman, D. 1993. Species richness of experimental productivity gradients - how important is colonization limitation. Ecology 74:2179-2191.

People and Organizations

Publishers:
Organization:Environmental Data Initiative
Creators:
Individual: Lauren M Hallett
Email Address:
hallett@uoregon.edu
Id:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0718-0257
Individual: Joanna S Hsu
Email Address:
jhsu118@gmail.com
Individual: Elsa E Cleland
Email Address:
cleland@ucsd.edu
Individual: Scott L Collins
Email Address:
scollins@unm.edu
Individual: Timothy L Diskson
Email Address:
tdickson@unomaha.edu
Individual: Emily C Farrer
Email Address:
efarrer@tulane.edu
Individual: Laureano A Gherardi
Email Address:
Laureano.Gherardi@asu.edu
Individual: Katherine L Gross
Email Address:
grossk@kbs.msu.edu
Individual: Richard J Hobbs
Email Address:
richard.hobbs@uwa.edu.au
Individual: Laura Turnbull
Email Address:
Laura.Turnbull@durham.ac.uk
Individual: Katherine N Suding
Email Address:
suding@colorado.edu
Individual: James Bartolome
Email Address:
Jwbart@berkeley.edu
Individual: Peter Hopkinson
Email Address:
phopkin@berkeley.edu
Contacts:
Individual: Lauren M Hallett
Email Address:
hallett@uoregon.edu
Id:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0718-0257

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

Temporal, Geographic and/or Taxonomic information that applies to all data in this dataset:

Time Period
Begin:
1943
End:
2010
Sampling Site: 
Description:Cedar Creek LTER: Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR), established in 1940, was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1975. In 1977 it was included as an Experimental Ecology Reserve in a proposed national network, and in 1982 it was one of 11 sites in the United States selected by the National Science Foundation for funding of Long Term Ecological Research (LTER).
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -93.201Latitude (degree): 45.401
Sampling Site: 
Description:Hayes, Kansas: Kansas mixed grass prairie, approximately 2 miles west of the town of Hays, Kansas.
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -99.3Latitude (degree): 38.8
Sampling Site: 
Description:Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve: Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve: The Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve is a 483 hectares nature preserve and biological field station formally established as a reserve in 1973. owned by Stanford University, south of Sand Hill Road and west of Interstate 280 in Portola Valley, California.
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -122.2275Latitude (degree): 37.408
Sampling Site: 
Description:Jornada Basin LTER: Field research at the Jornada LTER is conducted in various habitat types found within New Mexico State University's Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (25,900 ha) and the adjacent lands of the USDA Jornada Experimental Range (78,266 ha).
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -106.74Latitude (degree): 32.6179
Sampling Site: 
Description:Kellogg Biological Station LTER: The Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) is located in southwest Michigan in the eastern portion of the U.S. cornbelt, 50 km east of Lake Michigan in the SW corner of the state at elevation 288 m.
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -85.4Latitude (degree): 42.4
Sampling Site: 
Description:Konza Prairie LTER: Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS), a 3,487-hectare native tallgrass prairie research station owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University. KPBS is located in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. The ecoregion that encompasses over 25,000 km2 and covers much of eastern Kansas from near the Kansas-Nebraska border south into northeastern Oklahoma and contains the largest remaining area of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America.
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -96.575Latitude (degree): 39.093
Sampling Site: 
Description:Sevilleta LTER: Area is located about 80 kilometers south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in and around the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The Refuge, which is managed by the US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and its surroundings, are positioned at the intersection of several major biotic zones: Chihuahuan Desert grassland and shrubland to the south, Great Plains grassland to the north, Piñon-Juniper woodland in the upper elevations of the neighboring mountains, Colorado Plateau shrub-steppe to the west, and riparian vegetation along the middle Rio Grande Valley.
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -106.882Latitude (degree): 34.353
Sampling Site: 
Description:Short Grass Steppe LTER: The Short Grass Steppe site encompasses a large portion of the Colorado Piedmont Section of the western Great Plains. The extent is defined as the boundaries of the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER).
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -107.78333Latitude (degree): 40.81667
Sampling Site: 
Description:Vasco Caves Regional Park: Vasco Caves Regional Preserve is a grassland located in the rolling eastern foothills of Mount Diablo, California. The Preserve is home to several endangered and native species (plant and animal). It is known for its archaeological sites containing rock art and native bunchgrass restoration.
Site Coordinates:
Longitude (degree): -121.6869145Latitude (degree): 37.8048958
Taxonomic Range:
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:poaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:asteraceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:fabaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:ranunculaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:asclepiadaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:campanulaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:cyperaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:chenopodiaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:euphorbiaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:rosaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:cistaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:boraginaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:molluginaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:onagraceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:nyctaginaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:polygalaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:iridaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:lamiaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:commelinaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:violaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:solanaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:liliaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:polygonaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:caryophyllaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:apocynaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:oxalidaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:brassicaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:plantaginaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:rubiaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:scrophulariaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:crassulaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:papaveraceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:portulacaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:polemoniaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:apiaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:amaranthaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:zygophyllaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:hydrophyllaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:convolvulaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:geraniaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:pedaliaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:loasaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:aspleniaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:juncaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:clusiaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:ophioglossaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:malvaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:vitaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:celastraceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:linaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:acanthaceae
Classification:
Rank Name:family
Rank Value:verbenaceae

Project

Parent Project Information:

Title:Synthesizing population and community synchrony to understand drivers of ecological stability across LTER sites
Personnel:
Individual: Lauren Hallett
Role:Co-principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-1545288

Related Project:
Title:LTER: Biodiversity, Disturbance and Ecosystem Functioning at the Prairie-Forest Border
Personnel:
Individual: D Tilman
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-0080382

Related Project:
Title:Precipitation Controls of Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles in Arid-Semiarid Ecosystems
Personnel:
Individual: Osvaldo Sala
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-0917668

Related Project:
Title:LTER: Long-Term Research at the Jornada Basin (LTER-VI)
Personnel:
Individual: Debra Peters
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-1235828

Related Project:
Title:Workshop: Abrupt grass-woodland transitions: Determinants and consequences for ecosystem services - December 15-17, 2012 in Maldonado, Uruguay
Personnel:
Individual: Osvaldo Sala
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-1242747

Related Project:
Title:The KBS LTER Project: Long-term Ecological Research in Row-crop Agriculture
Personnel:
Individual: G. Philip Robertson
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-0423627

Related Project:
Title:The KBS LTER Project: Long-Term Ecological Research in Row-Crop Agriculture
Personnel:
Individual: G. Philip Robertson
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-9810220

Related Project:
Title:LTER: Long-Term Ecological Research in Field Crop Ecosystems
Personnel:
Individual: G. Philip Robertson
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-1027253

Related Project:
Title:Sevilleta LTER IV: Abiotic Pulses and Constraints: Effects on Dynamics and Stability in an Aridland Ecosystem
Personnel:
Individual: Scott Collins
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-0620482

Related Project:
Title:Long Term Ecological Research-Shortgrass Steppe
Personnel:
Individual: Eugene Kelly
Role:Principal Investigator
Funding:

NSF Award DEB-0217631

Other Metadata

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