Data Package Metadata View Summary

Rabbit feces counts on 1m x 1m plots from the long-term Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) at Jornada Basin LTER, 1995-2015

General Information

Data Package:

Local Identifier:

knb-lter-jrn.210086005.11

Title:

Rabbit feces counts on 1m x 1m plots from the long-term Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) at Jornada Basin LTER, 1995-2015

Alternate Identifier:

DOI PLACE HOLDER

Abstract:

This data package contains rabbit feces count data from plots with various levels of herbivore exclusion on Jornada Experimental Range (JER) and Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) lands. 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 number of rabbit feces were counted within each quadrat. After 2005, sampling frequency channged to every 5 years and data collected record only presence or absence of feces. This study is ongoing.

Publication Date:

2022-04-07

Language:

English

For more information:
Visit:	https://jrn.lternet.edu
Visit:	DOI PLACE HOLDER

Time Period

Begin:

1995-04-03

End:

2020-08-12

People and Organizations
Contact:	Jornada Basin LTER Information Manager (Jornada Basin LTER) [ email ]
Creator:	Lightfoot, David C (Jornada Basin LTER (now at Univ. of NM))
Creator:	Bestelmeyer, Brandon T (USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range)

Data Entities
Data Table Name:	Rabbit feces count observations
Description:	SMES rabbit feces counts on 1m quadrats
Other Name:	SMES quadrat protocol
Description:	SMES veg quadrat measurement and data preparation protocol
Other Name:	Data collection history file
Description:	SMES quadrat data collection comments and history

Detailed Metadata

Data Entities

Data Table


Data:	https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/knb-lter-jrn/210086005/11/8a15447380a5e2d784902750b3dbf45c
Name:	Rabbit feces count observations
Description:	SMES rabbit feces counts on 1m quadrats
Number of Records:	24517
Number of Columns:	12

Table Structure

Object Name:

JRN086005_smes_rabbit_feces_data.csv

Size:

1242080 byte

Authentication:

73747807faa6e51a934d913bc15f2517 Calculated By MD5

Text Format:

Number of Header Lines:

Number of Foot Lines:

Record Delimiter:

Orientation:

column

Simple Delimited:

Field Delimiter:	,
Quote Character:	"

Table Column Descriptions

Year

Season

Date collected

Site

Block

Plot

Treatment

Quad number

Pellent count

Comments

History file ID

Data type

Column Name:

year

season

date

site

block

plot

treatment

quad

count

comments

type

Definition:

Year of measurement

Season of data collection

Date data collected

Site or location code - there are 2 SMES sites

Block number

Plot number

Treatment type

Quad number [1-36]

Number of Rabbit Feces (pellets) counted within each quadrat, or 1/0 for presence/absence after 2005

Comments on observation. In history file prior to 2012, then entered in this column

Comment history id code. A Book or Tape number where comments are logged

Quadrat data type (CR=cryptogamic crust; LL=leaf litter; PC=plant cover; RF=rabbit feces; SD=soil disturbance; TC=termite casing)

Storage Type:

date

string

date

string

integer

string

integer

string

Measurement Type:

dateTime

nominal

dateTime

nominal

interval

nominal

Measurement Values Domain:

Format	YYYY
Precision	1

Allowed Values and Definitions

Enumerated Domain

Code Definition

Code	F
Definition	Fall
Source

Code Definition

Code	S
Definition	Spring
Source

Format	YYYY-MM-DD
Precision	1

Allowed Values and Definitions

Enumerated Domain

Code Definition

Code	G
Definition	SMES Grassland site
Source

Code Definition

Code	C
Definition	SMES Creosote site
Source

Allowed Values and Definitions

Enumerated Domain

Code Definition

Code	1
Definition	Block 1
Source

Code Definition

Code	2
Definition	Block 2
Source

Code Definition

Code	3
Definition	Block 3
Source

Code Definition

Code	4
Definition	Block 4
Source

Allowed Values and Definitions

Enumerated Domain

Code Definition

Code	3
Definition	Plot 3
Source

Code Definition

Code	2
Definition	Plot 2
Source

Code Definition

Code	4
Definition	Plot 4
Source

Code Definition

Code	1
Definition	Plot 1
Source

Allowed Values and Definitions

Enumerated Domain

Code Definition

Code	B
Definition	Bovine exclosure
Source

Code Definition

Code	R
Definition	Rodent exclosure
Source

Code Definition

Code	L
Definition	Lagomorph exclosure
Source

Code Definition

Code	C
Definition	Control - no mammal exclosure
Source

Unit	number
Type	integer

Unit	number
Type	integer

Definition

any text

Definition

any text

Allowed Values and Definitions

Enumerated Domain

Code Definition

Code	RF
Definition	Rabbit Feces quadrat count
Source

Missing Value Code:

Code	NA
Expl	Missing value - data not collected or otherwise unavailable

Code	NA
Expl	No comment, quality flag, or additional information available

Accuracy Report:

Accuracy Assessment:

Coverage:

Methods:

Non-Categorized Data Resource

Name:

SMES quadrat protocol

Entity Type:

otherEntity

Description:

SMES veg quadrat measurement and data preparation protocol

Physical Structure Description:

Object Name:

SMESvegquadprotocol.pdf

Size:

86866 byte

Authentication:

c44795a6b927f9c73e93d6f830ac088b Calculated By MD5

Externally Defined Format:

Format Name:

PDF

Data:

https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/knb-lter-jrn/210086005/11/2e364eeb6e3bcd83e6cd3ab0ae774be5

Non-Categorized Data Resource

Name:

Data collection history file

Entity Type:

otherEntity

Description:

SMES quadrat data collection comments and history

Physical Structure Description:

Object Name:

JRN086_small_mammal_exclosure_quad_his.txt

Size:

742817 byte

Authentication:

1b5953eb06af45c5334641e1fdde58ce Calculated By MD5

Externally Defined Format:

Format Name:

text/plain

Data:

https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/knb-lter-jrn/210086005/11/e526791dff89dead9af01a8331f9f054

Data Package Usage Rights

This information is released under the Creative Commons license - Attribution - CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The consumer of these data ("Data User" herein) is required to cite it appropriately in any publication that results from its use. The Data User should realize that these data may be actively used by others for ongoing research and that coordination may be necessary to prevent duplicate publication. The Data User is urged to contact the authors of these data if any questions about methodology or results occur. Where appropriate, the Data User is encouraged to consider collaboration or co-authorship with the authors. The Data User should realize that misinterpretation of data may occur if used out of context of the original study. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data. Thank you.

Keywords

By Thesaurus:
LTER Core Research Areas	Disturbance, Land Use and Land Cover Change, populations
LTER Controlled Vocabulary v1	Disturbance, abundance, consumers, deserts, fauna, grasslands, herbivory, land cover, long term, long term monitoring, populations, rabbits, shrubs, small mammals, vegetation, vertebrates
none	feces, poop
Jornada Basin LTER dataset keywords	Plant-Animal Interactions
Jornada Basin project names	SMES, study 086
Jornada Basin place names	SMES

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:

Each study site is 1 km by 0.5 km in area. Four replicate experimental blocks were randomly located at each study site depending on whether the site was grazed. The blocks are all oriented on a site in an X/Y coordinate system, with the access road to each site forming the X axis. The compass orientation at the Jornada grassland site is to the north, and Jornada creosotebush site is oriented to the south. Treatments within each block include one unfenced control plot (Treatment: C; control); one plot fenced with barbed wire, hardware cloth, and poultry wire to exclude rodents, rabbits, and cattle (Treatment: R; rodent); one plot fenced only with barbed and poultry wire to exclude cattle and rabbits (Treatment: L; lagomorph); and one plot fenced with barbed wire to exclude cattle (Treatment B; bovine). Cattle exclosure plots with barbed wire occur only at the black grama grassland site where cattle were present, for a total of 4 treatment plots at each of the four grassland site blocks. There are only 3 treatment plots at each of the creosotebush site blocks because grazing is excluded from the entire creosotebush site. The treatments were randomly assigned to each of the three or four possible plots in each block independently, and their arrangements differ from block to block. Each of the plots in a replicate block is separated by 20 meters. Each plot measures 36 meters by 36 meters. Thirty-six sampling points are 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. All cover values are measured from the vegetation measurement frame, which is 1 meter by 1 meter, and partitioned into a grid of 100, 10 cm by 10 cm squares.

Each year in the spring and fall from 1995-2005, total rabbit feces cover in each quadrat was counted. Each pellet was collected in a bag and summed for the total count observation. After 2005, sampling frequency changed to once every 5 years in the fall, and the sampling method changed. In all measurements after 2005, only the presence or absence of pellets (as a 1 or 0) is recorded for each quadrat instead of a count. This study is ongoing.

Field observations were recorded on micro-cassette tape recorders. Further details on measurements and data preparation can be found in the SMES vegetation quadrat protocol included with this package ("SMESvegquadprotocol.pdf"). A comment history is found in the file "JRN086_small_mammal_exclosure_quad_his.txt".

People and Organizations

Publishers:

Organization:

Environmental Data Initiative

Email Address:

info@environmentaldatainitiative.org

Web Address:

https://environmentaldatainitiative.org

Id:

https://ror.org/0330j0z60

Creators:

Individual:

David C Lightfoot

Organization:

Jornada Basin LTER (now at Univ. of NM)

Email Address:

dlightfo@unm.edu

Individual:

Brandon T Bestelmeyer

Organization:

USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range

Address:

P.O. Box 30003; MSC 3JER New Mexico State University,

Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003 U.S.A.

Id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5060-9955

Contacts:

Organization:

Jornada Basin LTER

Position:

Jornada Basin LTER Information Manager

Address:

P.O. Box 30003, MSC 3JER New Mexico State University,

Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003 USA

Phone:

575-646-1739

Email Address:

jornada.data@nmsu.edu

Web Address:

https://lter.jornada.nmsu.edu/information-management/

Metadata Providers:

Organization:

Jornada Basin LTER

Address:

P.O. Box 30003; MSC 3JER New Mexico State University,

Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003 USA

Web Address:

https://lter.jornada.nmsu.edu

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

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

Time Period

Begin:

1995-04-03

End:

2020-08-12

Geographic Region:

Description:

Western Bajada: Study occurred in the western bajada geomorphic zone in the Jornada Basin. More precise geographic coordinates for this study may be requested from the JRN LTER Data Manager (jornada.data@nmsu.edu).

Bounding Coordinates:

Northern:	32.542771	Southern:	32.467228
Western:	-106.851460	Eastern:	-106.729443

Geographic Region:

Description:

Basin Floor: Study occurred in the basin floor geomorphic zone in the Jornada Basin. More precise geographic coordinates for this study may be requested from the JRN LTER Data Manager (jornada.data@nmsu.edu).

Bounding Coordinates:

Northern:	32.749487	Southern:	32.473173
Western:	-106.872883	Eastern:	-106.692716

Project

Parent Project Information:

Title:

Jornada Basin LTER

Personnel:

Individual:

Dr. Niall Hanan

Address:

P.O. Box 30003, MSC 3JER,

New Mexico State University,

Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003 United States

Phone:

575-646-3335 (voice)

Email Address:

nhanan@nmsu.edu

Role:

Principal Investigator

Abstract:

The Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program is part of a national network of long-term ecological research sites funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The Jornada LTER program has been continuously funded since 1982 to develop general principles governing changes between grassland and shrubland ecosystems based on long-term data collected in the Chihuahuan Desert. We translate our findings to dryland ecosystems around the world, and forecast the dynamics of future ecosystem states in response to changing climate and land use.

Funding:

JRN LTER is funded by the National Science Foundation under award DEB 2025166.

Maintenance

Maintenance:

Description:	ongoing - New data are added every 5 years
Frequency:	asNeeded

Other Metadata

Additional Metadata

additionalMetadata
        |___text '\n    '
        |___element 'metadata'
        |     |___text '\n      '
        |     |___element 'unitList'
        |     |     |___text '\n        '
        |     |     |___element 'unit'
        |     |     |     |  \___attribute 'id' = 'number'
        |     |     |     |  \___attribute 'name' = 'number'
        |     |     |     |  \___attribute 'unitType' = 'dimensionless'
        |     |     |     |___text '\n          '
        |     |     |     |___element 'description'
        |     |     |     |     |___text 'a quantity or amount'
        |     |     |     |___text '\n        '
        |     |     |___text '\n      '
        |     |___text '\n    '
        |___text '\n  '

Copyright 2024 Environmental Data Initiative. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants #2223103 and #2223104. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Please contact us with questions, comments, or for technical assistance regarding this web site or the Environmental Data Initiative. Please read our privacy policy to know what information we collect about you and to understand your privacy rights.

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

Data Package Metadata View Summary

Rabbit feces counts on 1m x 1m plots from the long-term Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) at Jornada Basin LTER, 1995-2015

Data Entities

Data Table

Non-Categorized Data Resource

Non-Categorized Data Resource

Data Package Usage Rights

Keywords

Methods and Protocols

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

People and Organizations

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

Project

Parent Project Information:

Maintenance

Additional Metadata

Recently Added

Recently Updated

Data Package Metadata View Summary

Rabbit feces counts on 1m x 1m plots from the long-term Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) at Jornada Basin LTER, 1995-2015

+/- Data Entities

Data Table

Non-Categorized Data Resource

Non-Categorized Data Resource

+/- Data Package Usage Rights

+/- Keywords

+/- Methods and Protocols

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

+/- People and Organizations

+/- Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

+/- Project

Parent Project Information:

+/- Maintenance

+/- Additional Metadata

Data Entities

Data Package Usage Rights

Keywords

Methods and Protocols

People and Organizations

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

Project

Maintenance

Additional Metadata