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Settlement Biomass Estimates, Midwest US, Level 2

General Information
Data Package:
Local Identifier:msb-paleon.23.0
Title:Settlement Biomass Estimates, Midwest US, Level 2
Alternate Identifier:Settlement-Biomass_Midwest_Level2_v1.0
Alternate Identifier:DOI PLACE HOLDER
Abstract:

We present gridded 8 km-resolution data products of the estimated biomass and stem density of tree taxa at the time of Euro-American settlement of the midwestern United States for the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The data come from settlement-era Public Land Survey (PLS) data (ca. 0.8-km resolution) of trees recorded by land surveyors. The surveyor notes have been transcribed, cleaned, and processed to estimate biomass and stem density at individual points on the landscape. The point-level data are then aggregated within grid cells and statistically smoothed using a statistical model that accounts for zero-inflated continuous data with smoothing based on generalized additive modeling techniques and approximate Bayesian uncertainty estimates. We expect this data product to be useful for understanding the state of vegetation in the midwestern United States prior to large-scale Euro-American settlement. In addition to specific regional questions, the data product can serve as a baseline against which to investigate how forests and ecosystems change after intensive settlement. The data products (including both raw and statistically smoothed estimates at the 8-km scale) are being made available at the LTER network data portal as version 1.0. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants #DEB-1241874, 1241868, 1241870, 1241851, 1241891, 1241846, 1241856, 1241930.

Publication Date:2019
Language:english

Time Period
Begin:
1799
End:
1907

People and Organizations
Contact:Paciorek, Christopher (University of California, Berkeley, Lead PI) [  email ]
Creator:Paciorek, Christopher J. (University of California, Berkeley)
Creator:Cogbill, Charles (Harvard Forest)
Creator:Peters, Jody A. (University of Notre Dame)
Creator:McLachlan, Jason S. (University of Notre Dame)
Creator:Williams, John W. (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Data Entities
Other Name:
PLS_agb-biomass_Level2_v1.0.zip
Description:
2 netCDF files. PLS_agb-biomass_point_Level2_v1.0.nc: has dimensions 1) x: x coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters east, n=146, 2) y:y coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters north, n=180. For each x,y coordinate there is the mean of the 250 posterior MCMC estimates of biomass (megagrams per hectare) for each of the following taxa: "Ash","Basswood", "Beech", "Birch", "Black gum/Sweet gum", "Cedar/Juniper", "Cherry", "Dogwood", "Elm", "Fir", "Hemlock", "Hickory", "Ironwood", "Maple", "Oak", "Pine", "Poplar/Tulip poplar", "Spruce", "Tamarack", "Walnut", "Total". These mean point predictions can be calculated from the 250 MCMC draws in the PLS_agb-biomass_draws_Level2_v1.0.nc file. PLS_agb-biomass_draws_Level2_v1.0.nc: has dimensions 1) x: x coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters east, n=146, 2) y:y coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters north, n=180,and 3) Sample: 250 MCMC samples. For exach x, y coordinate, the 250 samples are the biomass (megagrams per hectare) MCMC draws from the statistical model for the follwoing taxa: "Ash","Basswood", "Beech", "Birch", "Black gum/Sweet gum", "Cedar/Juniper", "Cherry", "Dogwood", "Elm", "Fir", "Hemlock", "Hickory", "Ironwood", "Maple", "Oak", "Pine", "Poplar/Tulip poplar", "Spruce", "Tamarack", "Walnut", "Total".
Detailed Metadata

Data Entities

Non-Categorized Data Resource

Name:PLS_agb-biomass_Level2_v1.0.zip
Entity Type:netCDF
Description:2 netCDF files. PLS_agb-biomass_point_Level2_v1.0.nc: has dimensions 1) x: x coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters east, n=146, 2) y:y coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters north, n=180. For each x,y coordinate there is the mean of the 250 posterior MCMC estimates of biomass (megagrams per hectare) for each of the following taxa: "Ash","Basswood", "Beech", "Birch", "Black gum/Sweet gum", "Cedar/Juniper", "Cherry", "Dogwood", "Elm", "Fir", "Hemlock", "Hickory", "Ironwood", "Maple", "Oak", "Pine", "Poplar/Tulip poplar", "Spruce", "Tamarack", "Walnut", "Total". These mean point predictions can be calculated from the 250 MCMC draws in the PLS_agb-biomass_draws_Level2_v1.0.nc file. PLS_agb-biomass_draws_Level2_v1.0.nc: has dimensions 1) x: x coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters east, n=146, 2) y:y coordinate of grid cell centroid in Albers projection (Great Lakes St Lawrence Albers [Proj4 +init=epsg:3175]), units: meters north, n=180,and 3) Sample: 250 MCMC samples. For exach x, y coordinate, the 250 samples are the biomass (megagrams per hectare) MCMC draws from the statistical model for the follwoing taxa: "Ash","Basswood", "Beech", "Birch", "Black gum/Sweet gum", "Cedar/Juniper", "Cherry", "Dogwood", "Elm", "Fir", "Hemlock", "Hickory", "Ironwood", "Maple", "Oak", "Pine", "Poplar/Tulip poplar", "Spruce", "Tamarack", "Walnut", "Total".
Physical Structure Description:
Object Name:PLS_agb-biomass_Level2_v1.0.zip
Compression Method:zip
Externally Defined Format:
Format Name:netCDF files
Data:https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/msb-paleon/23/0/e658e36cbb484f5234cbef71c6873989

Data Package Usage Rights

We are using the CC-BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International) License. Details of this license can be found here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Keywords

By Thesaurus:
LTER controlled vocabularymaps, above ground biomass, Euro-American settlement, trees, Public Land Survey

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:

See the methods sections in: Paciorek et al., 2019, ADD TITLE AND BIOARCHIVE LINK

People and Organizations

Creators:
Individual:Dr. Christopher J. Paciorek
Organization:University of California, Berkeley
Individual:Dr. Charles Cogbill
Organization:Harvard Forest
Individual:Dr. Jody A. Peters
Organization:University of Notre Dame
Individual:Dr. Jason S. McLachlan
Organization:University of Notre Dame
Individual:Dr. John W. Williams
Organization:University of Wisconsin, Madison
Contacts:
Individual:Dr. Christopher Paciorek
Position:Lead PI
Organization:University of California, Berkeley
Phone:
5108426670 (voice)
Email Address:
paciorek@stat.berkeley.edu
Metadata Providers:
Organization:McLachlan Lab
Address:
Notre Dame Biology Department,
100 Galvin,
Notre Dame, IN 46615 USA
Email Address:
jmclachl@nd.edu
Web Address:
https://sites.nd.edu/paleonproject/

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

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

Time Period
Begin:
1799
End:
1907
Geographic Region:
Description: Midwestern United States. Specifically Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana.
Bounding Coordinates:
Northern:  49.75Southern:  38.3
Western:  -98.6Eastern:  -80.2
Taxonomic Range:
General Coverage: Tree species not listed below are grouped into an “Other hardwood” category. Because of several cases of ambiguity in the common tree names used by surveyors (black gum/sweet gum,ironwood, poplar/tulip poplar, cedar/juniper), a group can represent trees from different genera or even families.
Classification:
Common Name: Ash
Classification:
Common Name: Fraxinus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Basswood
Classification:
Common Name: Tilia americana
Classification:
Common Name: Beech
Classification:
Common Name: Fagus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Birch
Classification:
Common Name: Betula spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Black gum/Sweet gum
Classification:
Common Name: Nyssa sylvatica and Liquidambar styraciflua
Classification:
Common Name: Cedar/Juniper
Classification:
Common Name: Juniperus virginiana and Thuja occidentalis
Classification:
Common Name: Cherry
Classification:
Common Name: Prunus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Dogwood
Classification:
Common Name: Cornus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Elm
Classification:
Common Name: Ulmus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Fir
Classification:
Common Name: Abies balsamea
Classification:
Common Name: Hemlock
Classification:
Common Name: Tsuga canadensis
Classification:
Common Name: Hickory
Classification:
Common Name: Carya spp
Classification:
Common Name: Ironwood
Classification:
Common Name: Carpinus caroliniana and Ostrya virginiana
Classification:
Common Name: Maple
Classification:
Common Name: Acer spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Oak
Classification:
Common Name: Quercus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Pine
Classification:
Common Name: Pinus spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Poplar/Tulip poplar
Classification:
Common Name: Populus spp. and Liriodendron tulipifera
Classification:
Common Name: Spruce
Classification:
Common Name: Picea spp.
Classification:
Common Name: Tamarack
Classification:
Common Name: Larix laricina
Classification:
Common Name: Walnut
Classification:
Common Name: Juglans spp.

Project

Parent Project Information:

Title: Paleo-ecological Observatory Network (PalEON)
Personnel:
Individual: Jason McLachlan
Address:
100 Galvin Life Sciences,
Notre Dame, IN 46615 USA
Phone:
(574) 631 1850 (voice)
Email Address:
jmclachl@nd.edu
Role:Lead PI
Individual: Jody Peters
Address:
100 Galvin Life Sciences,
Notre Dame, IN 46615 USA
Email Address:
peters.63@nd.edu
Role:Co - Information Manager
Abstract:

PalEON (the PaleoEcological Observatory Network) is an interdisciplinary team of paleoecologists, ecological statisticians, and ecosystem modelers. Our goal is to reconstruct forest composition, fire regime, and climate in forests across the northeastern US and Alaska over the past 2000 years and then use this to drive and validate terrestrial ecosystem models. We will develop a coherent spatiotemporal inference framework to quantify trends and extreme events in paleoecological and paleoclimatic time series. Variables such as forest composition, fire regime, and moisture balance will be inferred from corresponding paleoecological proxies, with rigorous estimates of uncertainty.

These datasets will be applied to improve terrestrial ecosystem models in two contexts. First, we are developing specific data products, such as high- resolution settlement-era forest composition maps from witness tree and General Land Office data, that can be used to drive ecosystem models. PalEON will develop formal data assimilation tools that will allow the models we use to forecast on centennial scales to be informed by decadal- to centennial-scale data. Second, are developing data products for the purpose of model validation (e.g. fire-frequency reconstructions from sedimentary charcoal data). These long-term validation datasets will help us assess the ability of these models to capture past dynamics correctly, and will help us understand why their future projections are so divergent.

Funding:

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants #DEB-1241874, 1241868, 1241870, 1241851, 1241891, 1241846, 1241856, 1241930. 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.

Other Metadata

Additional Metadata

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