Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Set Details

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GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession:

INV-GCES-1610

Research Theme:

Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology (Synthesis)

Contributors:

Merryl Alber, Steve Pennings, Dale Bishop, Wade Sheldon

Title:

Long-term Mollusc Population Abundance and Size Data from the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Fall Marsh Monitoring Program

Abstract:

This data set includes long-term observational data on mollusc species abundance and size distribution at 10 Georgia Coastal Ecosystems marsh sites used for annual plant and invertebrate population monitoring. Infaunal and epifaunal molluscs were hand-collected from within quadrats of known area in mid-marsh and creekbank zones (n = 4 quadrats per zone) at all sites annually in October. Molluscs were also collected from an additional high marsh Juncus zone (n = 4 quadrats) at several sites beginning in 2009. The molluscs were returned to the lab, preserved in ethanol, identified and counted to determine species abundance and density in each plot. The length of each measurable individual was then determined using calipers or an ocular micrometer mounted in a stereomicroscope to determine mollusc size. Population abundance and size measurement data are reported separately by site, zone, plot and species because analyses were performed at different times, specimens were not individually identifiable, and not all individuals were measureable. This data set includes cumulative long-term observations from 2000 to 2020, and will be updated annually to include the prior year observations.

DOI:

10.6073/pasta/651d603e2930d7ff608d7325230418e8

Key Words:

Aquatic Invertebrate Monitoring, creek bank, Detracia, diversity, epifauna, fall, Geukensia, Hydrobiidae, infauna, intertidal, invertebrates, length, Littoraria, Long-term Data, marshes, Melampus, mid-marsh, mollusks, monitoring, Polymesoda, Signature Data, size distribution, species composition, species diversity, Succineidae, vegetation

LTER Core Area:

Population Studies

Research Themes:

GCE2 Q2 - Domain Patterns, GCE3 Area2 - Patterns within the Domain, Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology

Study Period:

24-Oct-2000 to 23-Oct-2020

Study Sites:

GCE1 -- Eulonia, Georgia, USA
GCE2 -- Four Mile Island, Georgia, USA
GCE3 -- North Sapelo, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
GCE4 -- Meridian, Georgia, USA
GCE5 -- Folly River, Georgia, USA
GCE6 -- Dean Creek, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
GCE7 -- Carrs Island, Georgia, USA
GCE8 -- Alligator Creek, Georgia, USA
GCE9 -- Rockdedundy Island, Georgia, USA
GCE10 -- Hunt Camp, Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA

» Download Geographic Coverage: Google Earth

Species References:

Detracia floridana, Geukensia demissa, Hydrobiidae, Ilyanassa obsoleta, Littoraria irrorata, Melampus bidentatus, Polymesoda caroliniana, Succineidae

Data References:

INV-GCEM-0301a (Fall 2001 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0301b (Fall 2001 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0305a1 (Fall 2000 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0305a2 (Fall 2000 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0412b1 (Fall 2002 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0412b2 (Fall 2002 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0502a1 (Fall 2003 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0502a2 (Fall 2003 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0704a1 (Fall 2005 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0704a2 (Fall 2005 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0705a2 (Fall 2004 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0705a1 (Fall 2004 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0705c1 (Fall 2006 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0705c2 (Fall 2006 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0804a1 (Fall 2007 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0804a2 (Fall 2007 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-0812a1 (Fall 2008 abundance data), INV-GCEM-0812a2 (Fall 2008 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1010a1 (Fall 2009 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1010a2 (Fall 2009 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1101a1 (Fall 2010 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1101a2 (Fall 2010 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1208a1 (Fall 2011 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1208a2 (Fall 2011 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1302 (Fall 2012 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1309 (Fall 2012 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1407 (Fall 2013 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1407a (Fall 2013 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1507 (Fall 2014 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1507a (Fall 2014 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1607 (Fall 2015 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1607a (Fall 2015 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1707 (Fall 2016 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1707a (Fall 2016 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1807 (Fall 2017 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1807a (Fall 2017 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-1907 (Fall 2018 abundance data), INV-GCEM-1907a (Fall 2018 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-2007 (Fall 2019 abundance data), INV-GCEM-2007a (Fall 2019 size distribution data), INV-GCEM-2107 (Fall 2020 abundance data), INV-GCEM-2107a (Fall 2020 size distribution data)

Project References:

Marine invertebrate monitoring

Publications:

Smith, R.S., Pennings, S.C., Alber, M., Craft, C.B. and Byers, J. 2024. The resistance of Georgia coastal marshes to hurricanes. Ecosphere. 15(4). (DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4821)

Smith, C.S., Zhang, S., Hensel, M.S., Pennings, S.C. and Silliman, B.R. 2024. Long-term data reveal that grazer density mediates climatic stress in salt marshes. Ecology. (DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4323)

Downloads:

Data Table: INV-GCES-1610_Abundance (Mollusc abundance data set for 2000-2019, 13560 records)

Access: Public (released 12-Oct-2016)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [1509.39kb], Text File [1297.22kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [231.27kb], MATLAB (Variables) [234.72kb], Text Report [1501.91kb]

Column List:(display)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Date	YYYY-MM-DD	string	Calendar date
2	Year	YYYY	integer	Calendar year of observation
3	Site_Name	none	string	GCE LTER sampling site name
4	Site	none	integer	GCE-LTER sampling site number
5	Zone	none	integer	Marsh zone code (1=Creekbank, 2=Mid-marsh, 3=High-marsh Juncus)
6	Plot	none	integer	GCE-LTER permanent plot number
7	Location	none	string	Geographic location code in the GCE Metadata Database for the sampling plot
8	Flag_Location	none	string	QA/QC flags for Geographic location code in the GCE Metadata Database for the sampling plot (flagging criteria, where "x" is Location: manual)
9	Location_Notes	none	string	Notes on location assignments and geographic accuracy
10	Longitude	degrees	floating-point	Geographic longitude in decimal degrees
11	Flag_Longitude	none	string	QA/QC flags for Geographic longitude in decimal degrees (flagging criteria, where "x" is Longitude: x<-180="I", x>180="I", manual)
12	Latitude	degrees	floating-point	Geographic latitude in decimal degrees
13	Flag_Latitude	none	string	QA/QC flags for Geographic latitude in decimal degrees (flagging criteria, where "x" is Latitude: x<-90="I", x>90="I", manual)
14	Species	none	string	Latinized name of the mollusc species collected
15	Mollusc_Count	Count	integer	Number of individuals collected in the specified quadrat
16	Quadrat_Area	m^2	floating-point	Number of square meters in the quadrat sampled
17	Mollusc_Density	Count/m^2	floating-point	Calculated number of individuals per meter squared
18	Notes	none	string	Field notes

Data Table: INV-GCES-1610_Size (Mollusc size data set for 2000-2020, 44660 records)

Access: Public (released 12-Oct-2016)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [4729.52kb], Text File [3920.15kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [451.97kb], MATLAB (Variables) [455.36kb], Text Report [4312.31kb]

Column List:(display)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Date	YYYY-MM-DD	string	Calendar date of observation
2	Year	YYYY	integer	Calendar year of observation
3	Site_Name	none	string	GCE LTER sampling site name
4	Site	none	integer	GCE-LTER sampling site number
5	Zone	none	integer	Marsh zone code (1=Creekbank, 2=Mid-marsh, 3=High-marsh Juncus)
6	Plot	none	integer	GCE-LTER permanent plot number
7	Location	none	string	Geographic location code in the GCE Metadata Database for the sampling plot
8	Flag_Location	none	string	QA/QC flags for Geographic location code in the GCE Metadata Database for the sampling plot (flagging criteria, where "x" is Location: manual)
9	Location_Notes	none	string	Notes on location assignments and geographic accuracy
10	Longitude	degrees	floating-point	Geographic longitude in decimal degrees
11	Flag_Longitude	none	string	QA/QC flags for Geographic longitude in decimal degrees (flagging criteria, where "x" is Longitude: x<-180="I", x>180="I", manual)
12	Latitude	degrees	floating-point	Geographic latitude in decimal degrees
13	Flag_Latitude	none	string	QA/QC flags for Geographic latitude in decimal degrees (flagging criteria, where "x" is Latitude: x<-90="I", x>90="I", manual)
14	Species	none	string	Latinized name of the mollusc species collected
15	Flag_Species	none	string	QA/QC flags for Latinized name of the mollusc species collected (flagging criteria, where "x" is Species: flag_notinlist(x, "Assiminea, Crassostrea, Detracia, Geukensia, Hydrobiidae, Ilyanassa, Littoraria, Melampus, Odostomia, Polymesoda, Slug, Succineidae")="I")
16	Mollusc_Length	mm	floating-point	Length of measurable individuals collected from each plot
17	Flag_Mollusc_Length	none	string	QA/QC flags for Length of measurable individuals collected from each plot (flagging criteria, where "x" is Mollusc_Length: x<0.1="I", x>120="Q")
18	Condition	none	integer	Binary code to indicate shell condition of the individual specimen (0=Undamaged, 1=Damaged)
19	Notes	none	string	Field sampling notes

Statistics:

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

Citation:

Alber, Merryl. 2016. Long-term Mollusc Population Abundance and Size Data from the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Fall Marsh Monitoring Program. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/651d603e2930d7ff608d7325230418e8

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