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Aggregate Mesquite Litter Chemistry Following Soil-litter Mixing and Decomposition in a Semi-arid Grassland on the Jornada Basin LTER from 2010-2012

General Information
Data Package:
Local Identifier:knb-lter-jrn.210301001.60
Title:Aggregate Mesquite Litter Chemistry Following Soil-litter Mixing and Decomposition in a Semi-arid Grassland on the Jornada Basin LTER from 2010-2012
Alternate Identifier:DOI PLACE HOLDER
Abstract:

Decomposition models typically under-predict decomposition relative to observed rates in drylands. This discrepancy indicates a significant gap in our mechanistic understanding of carbon and nutrient cycling in these systems. Recent research suggests that certain drivers of decomposition that are often not explicitly incorporated into models (e.g., photodegradation and soil-litter mixing; SLM) may be important in drylands, and their exclusion may, in part, be responsible for model under-predictions. To assess the role of SLM, litterbags were deployed in the Chihuahuan Desert and interrelationships between vegetation structure, SLM, and rates of decomposition were quantified. Vegetation structure was manipulated to simulate losses of grass cover from livestock grazing and shrub encroachment.We hypothesized that (i) reductions in grass cover would destabilize soils and promote SLM, and (ii) that SLM would enhance microbial abundance and alter microbial community composition in ways that accelerate decomposition. To test our hypotheses, we quantified mass loss, and chemistry of litter incubated on sites with experimental reductions in grass cover (0 to 100% removals) over a 12-month period.  This dataset includes data pertaining to the percent carbon, percent nitrogen, and the carbon to nitrogen ratio. This study is complete.

Short Name:MesquiteLitterDecomposition_Chemistry
Publication Date:2019-07-15
Language:English

Time Period
Begin:
2010-04-01
End:
2012-10-31

People and Organizations
Contact:Archer, Steven (The University of Arizona) 
Contact:manager, data (data manager, datamanager.jrn.lter@gmail.com) 
Creator:Hewins, Dan 
Creator:Archer, Steven 

Data Entities
Data Table Name:
data_Jornada_301001_aggregate_litterchem
Description:
Detailed Metadata

Data Entities

Data Table

Data:https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/knb-lter-jrn/210301001/60/e537d7787031ea9f092800043e15a2f2
Name:data_Jornada_301001_aggregate_litterchem
Number of Columns:13

Time Period
Begin:
2010-04-01
End:
2012-10-01

Table Structure
Object Name:data_Jornada_301001_aggregate_litterchem_data.csv
Size:19423
Text Format:
Number of Header Lines:23
Number of Foot Lines:0
Record Delimiter:\r\n
Orientation:column
Simple Delimited:
Field Delimiter:,
Quote Character:"

Table Column Descriptions
 yearmont of field sample collectionblockplotmicrositedurationreppercent nitrogenC_corrpashAsh NitrogenAsh CarbonC:N ratio
Column Name:year  
month  
block  
plot  
microsite  
duration  
rep  
N_corr  
C_corr  
pash  
ashN  
ashC  
CN_ratio  
Definition:year of sample field collection4=April 5=May 10=Octoberblock location in JER pasture 11A north to south (1-3)replicate plots in each block (1-3)dominant land cover where litter bags were placedCollection month of litterbag after deploymentsample replicate (1 or 2)percent nitrogen corrected by LECO standardspercent carbon corrected by LECO standardsproportion of ash finalpercent ash-corrected nitrogenpercent ask-corrected carbonRatio of carbon to nitrogen (CN=ashC/ashN)
Storage Type:date  
date  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
string  
Measurement Type:dateTimedateTimenominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominalnominal
Measurement Values Domain:
FormatYYYY
Precision
FormatMM
Precision
Definitionblock location in JER pasture 11A north to south (1-3)
Definitionreplicate plots in each block (1-3)
Allowed Values and Definitions
Enumerated Domain 
Code Definition
CodeBare
Definitionbare ground
Source
Code Definition
CodeGrass
Definitiongrass
Source
Code Definition
CodeShrub
Definitionshrub
Source
DefinitionCollection month of litterbag after deployment
Definitionsample replicate (1 or 2)
Definitionpercent nitrogen corrected by LECO standards
Definitionpercent carbon corrected by LECO standards
Definitionproportion of ash final
Definitionpercent ash-corrected nitrogen
Definitionpercent ask-corrected carbon
DefinitionRatio of carbon to nitrogen (CN=ashC/ashN)
Missing Value Code:                          
Accuracy Report:                          
Accuracy Assessment:                          
Coverage:                          
Methods:                          

Data Package Usage Rights

Data Policies

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 Core AreaDisturbance, Organic Matter
JRN Dataset Keywordsnon-core, Vegetation Dynamics
LTER Controlled Vocabularydecomposition, water, litter
keywordsmesquite

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:

Methods of recording computer

Description:

Methodology Litterbag contents (litter + accumulated soil) were separated using a 1 mm mesh sieve. Litter was then manually dusted using small brushes to remove additional soil from leaflets. The brushed litter was frozen at -80°C for 48 h, lyophilized for 48 h, weighed, and then ground to a fine powder using a ball mill (8000D Mixer/Mill, Spex Certiprep, Metuchen, NJ, USA). Subsamples of litter were combusted at 550°C for 6 h to determine the inorganic matter content (% ash). Mass loss and litter C and N content (elemental analyzer; ECS 4010, Costech Analytical Technologies, Valencia, CA, USA) are expressed on an ash-free basis.  The % ash was also used as a conservative index of soil accumulation that accounts only for soil adhering to litter surfaces after sieving and brushing (see Throop and Archer 2007). A large proportion of soil that infiltrates litterbags covers or mixes with litter, but does not adhere to litter surface. The mass of these ‘bulk’ soils entering or exiting litterbags is responsive to wind and water transport processes and is thus likely highly dynamic relative to that of the soil-litter films that form on litter surfaces. Quantifying the magnitude and dynamics of this ‘bulk’ component of the soil-litter matrix was beyond the scope of this study.

Quality Control
Quality Control Step 1: 
Description:

data entry program validates entries for species code and acceptable range for cover.

People and Organizations

Publishers:
Organization:Jornada Basin LTER
Web Address:
http://jornada.nmsu.edu/lter
Creators:
Individual: Dan Hewins
Individual: Steven Archer
Contacts:
Individual: Steven Archer
Organization:The University of Arizona
Web Address:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5539-4129
Individual: data manager
Organization:data manager, datamanager.jrn.lter@gmail.com

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

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

Time Period
Begin:
2010-04-01
End:
2012-10-31
Geographic Region:
Description:Our study site is located in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, approximately 25 km northeast of Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA (+32.6 N, -106.7 W, elevation 1315 m). Annual precipitation is 24 cm and maximum temperatures average 13 C in January and 36 C in June. Our study site includes the 78,000 ha Jornada Experimental Range operated by the USDA Agricultural Research Service (http://jornada.nmsu.edu/), and the 22,000 ha Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC, http://chihuahuansc.nmsu.edu/) operated by New Mexico State University (http://www.nmsu.edu/).
Bounding Coordinates:
Northern:  32.7494871Southern:  32.47317259
Western:  -106.8728831Eastern:  -106.6927163
Altitude (meter):1315

Temporal, Geographic and/or Taxonomic information that applies to Data Table: data_Jornada_301001_aggregate_litterchem


Time Period
Begin:
2010-04-01
End:
2012-10-01

Project

Maintenance

Maintenance:
Description:

Month interval from time of sample installation in field: 0, 1, 6, 12, 24, 30 0   = Apr 2010 1   = May 2010 6   = Oct 2010 12 = Apr 2011 24 = Apr 2012 30 = Oct 2012 This study is complete.

Frequency:

Additional Info

Additional Information:
 

Site Location JER Pasture 11A Okin exclosures (see Study 228)

Other Metadata

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.

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