Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Set Details

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GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession:

MSH-GCED-2308

Research Theme:

Marsh Ecology (Directed Study)

Contributors:

Marc Simon Hensel, Merryl Alber, Christine Angelini, Rebecca Atkins, Jeb Byers, Chris Craft, David de la Mater, Joe Morton, Steve Pennings, Emlyn Resetarits, Brian Silliman, Stephanie Valdez, Carter Smith

Title:

Pred-Ex: Long Term Salt Marsh Predator Exclusion Experiment Conducted at Sapelo Island, GA

Abstract:

In southeastern USA salt marshes, short-term and small-scale experiments indicate that a trophic cascade benefits the foundation plant Spartina alterniflora: marine predators (nekton) positively affect plant biomass by consuming snail and crab herbivores. To test how nekton affect marsh processes when the entire animal community is present, and to test how prior results scale up over time, we conducted a 3-year predator exclusion experiment in a Georgia salt marsh using replicated 19.6 m2 plots. We measured the response of changing density for all marsh invertebrates, conducted snail and crab tethering trials, quantified change in marsh grass biomass, and measured tea bag decomposition rate across all plots.

DOI:

10.6073/pasta/a2c9c9b9541c511c3e4bfab5e8e4d639

Key Words:

community structure, consumers, Dean Creek, decomposition, GCE, LTER, nekton, predation, Sapelo Island

LTER Core Area:

Primary Production

Research Themes:

Marsh Ecology

Study Period:

01-May-2016 to 01-Oct-2019

Study Sites:

GCE6 -- Dean Creek, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA

» Download Geographic Coverage: Google Earth

Species References:

Chthamalus fragilis, Uca pugilator

Publications:

Morton, J.P., Hensel, M.S., DeLaMater, D.S., Angelini, C., Atkins, R., Prince, K., Williams, S.L., Boyd, A.D., Parsons, J., Resetarits, E.J., Smith, C.S., Valdez, S., Monnet, E., Farhan, R., Mobilian, C., Smith, D., Craft, C.B., Byers, J., Alber, M., Pennings, S.C. and Silliman, B.R. 2024. Mesopredator release moderates trophic control of plant biomass in a Georgia salt marsh. (DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4452)

Downloads:

Data Table: MSH-GCED-2308_Experiment (Experimental data from PredEx, 96 records)

Access: Public (released 22-Aug-2023)

Metadata: Text (ESA FLED), XML (Ecological Metadata Language)

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [7.26kb], Text File [6.50kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [32.46kb], MATLAB (Variables) [35.11kb], Text Report [37.63kb]

Column List:(display)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Year	YYYY	integer	Year of data collection for this row
2	Month	MMMM	string	Month of data collection for this row
3	Plot	none	integer	plot number sampled for this row
4	Treatment	none	string	Treatment sampled for this row
5	Block	none	integer	block number for this plot
6	Barnacles	Count	integer	mean density of barnacles counted on PVC posts on plot edges
7	Adult_Fiddler	count/m^2	floating-point	density of fiddler crab burrows counted per subplot
8	Sesarma	count/m^2	floating-point	density of purple marsh crab burrows counted per plot
9	Mussels	count/m^2	floating-point	density of Geukensia mussels counted per plot
10	Mudcrab	count/m^2	floating-point	density of mud crab (Panopeus and Eurytium) counted per plot
11	Adult_Littoraria	count/m^2	floating-point	density of adult snails counted per plot
12	Juvenile_Littoraria	count/m^2	floating-point	density of juvenile snails counted per plot
13	Juvenile_fiddler	count/m^2	floating-point	density of juvenile fiddler crab burrows per plot
14	Radulations	cm	floating-point	mean length of snail grazing cuts per stem of Spartina
15	Height	cm	floating-point	mean height of snails on Spartina, measured from marsh sediment to snail position on blade, for 10 snails per plot
16	Stem_Density	count/m^2	floating-point	mean stem density of Spartina per plot
17	Biomass	g/m^2	floating-point	dry weight Spartina biomass estimation per plot

Supporting Document: MSH-GCED-2308_Map (Zip archive containing a map of the study plots)

Access: Public (released 22-Aug-2023)

Metadata: XML (Ecological Metadata Language)

Data Formats: Zip archive [846 kb]

Data Table: MSH-GCED-2308_TeaDecomp (Tea bag decomposition data from PredEx, 954 records)

Access: Public (released 22-Aug-2023)

Metadata: Text (ESA FLED), XML (Ecological Metadata Language)

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [66.72kb], Text File [62.53kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [48.66kb], MATLAB (Variables) [50.04kb], Text Report [94.00kb]

Column List:(display)

Data Table: MSH-GCED-2308_Tether (Tether data from PredEx, 182 records)

Access: Public (released 22-Aug-2023)

Metadata: Text (ESA FLED), XML (Ecological Metadata Language)

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [10.47kb], Text File [8.96kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [29.67kb], MATLAB (Variables) [31.58kb], Text Report [37.38kb]

Column List:(display)

Statistics:

Generate script code to retrieve data tables for analysis in: MATLAB, R, SAS, SPSS

Citation:

Hensel, Marc Simon. 2023. Pred-Ex: Long Term Salt Marsh Predator Exclusion Experiment Conducted at Sapelo Island, GA. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a2c9c9b9541c511c3e4bfab5e8e4d639

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