Locations and data collection
Three plots were situated on the bajada of the Dona Ana mountains,
parallel to and 200 m south of the LTER-I transect. Two additional
sets of three plots were located 5 km and 10 km south of the LTER
transect. Each plot is composed of two 50 meter belt transects,
each divided into ten 5-square-meter quadrats. Grasshoppers were
visually sampled in each quadrat/plot once in May, July and
September, in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Each individual grasshopper,
its age, sex and the substrate it was observed on, are recorded as
observations in the dataset.
The protocol for observations was to enter each quadrat, search
for grasshoppers, visually identify each grasshopper to species,
estimate nymphal instars, record sex, and the substrate
individuals are observed on (e.g. plant species if on vegetation,
soil type if on ground).
Additional files
Two additional files are included with this dataset. The first -
jgrashop.lst.txt - describes the codes for grasshopper species and
vegetation observed in the data file. The other - jgrashop.dsd.txt
- is a metadata text file from the earlier Jornada information
management system and may contain useful metadata.