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GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession: PLT-GCEM-1311a Research Theme: Plant Ecology (Monitoring)
Contributors: Steven C. Pennings, Fan Li, Kazik Wieski, Jacob Shalack, Caroline Reddy
Title: Fall 2012 plant monitoring survey -- shoot height and flowering status of plants in permanent plots at GCE sampling sites 1-10
Abstract: A quadrat survey was conducted in October 2012 to measure the species and size distribution of plants at 10 GCE LTER sampling sites. The quadrats were established as permanent plots at GCE sampling sites in October 2000 by placing wooden stakes at random locations across two nominal zones at each site, designated based on marsh structure (creekbank and high marsh). Several new plots were also added in October 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012 to replace those lost due to catastrophic wrack disturbance or creek bank erosion. The plots were visually surveyed and the species, shoot height, and flowering status was recorded individually for each shoot over 10 cm in height present in each plot. Observations from plots exhibiting signs of disturbance were noted in the data set with additional details recorded in GCE data set PLT-GCEM-1801. This survey will be repeated annually to assess changes in plant distribution and biomass in relation to environmental changes documented by other GCE LTER monitoring efforts.
DOI: 10.6073/pasta/d6ab31e17f7579c8d1134afce1820cb4
Key Words: flowering, marshes, monitoring, Panicum, permanent plots, plant communities, plant cover, plant ecology, plant growth, Plant Monitoring, plants, primary productivity, Scirpus, shoot height, Typha
LTER Core Area: Primary Production
Research Themes: GCE2 Q2 - Domain Patterns, GCE3 Area2 - Patterns within the Domain, Plant Ecology, Botany
Study Period: 12-Oct-2012 to 15-Oct-2012
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: Juncus roemerianus, Panicum spp, Scirpus americanus, Scirpus olneyi, Scirpus robustus, Scirpus validus, Spartina alterniflora, Spartina cynosuroides, Typha angustifolia, Zizaniopsis miliacea
Data References: PLT-GCEM-1311b (Biomass calculations based on this survey), PLT-GCEM-1801 (Disturbance to permanent monitoring plots data set)
Project References: End of year biomass
Publications:

Jiang, R., Liu, W. and Pennings, S.C. (in review). Global warming disrupts the trade-off between sexual and clonal reproduction in a salt marsh plant Spartina alterniflora.

Liu, W. and Pennings, S.C. Presentation: Allometric variation of the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora across space and time. 103rd Annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 5-10, 2018, New Orleans.

Pennings, S.C. Presentation: Effects of Hurricanes Matthew and Irma on coastal wetlands in Georgia. 103rd Annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 5-10, 2018, New Orleans.

Li, S. and Pennings, S.C. 2016. Disturbance in Georgia salt marshes: variation across space and time. Ecosphere. 7(10):e01487. (DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1487)

Liu, W. and Pennings, S.C. 2019. Self-thinning and size-dependent flowering of the grass Spartina alterniflora across space and time. Functional Ecology. 33:1830-1841. (DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13384)

Liu, W. and Pennings, S.C. 2021. Variation in synchrony of production among species, sites and intertidal zones in coastal marshes. Ecology. (DOI: 10.1002/ECY.3278)

Downloads: Information

Data Table: PLT-GCEM-1311a (Main data table for data set PLT-GCEM-1311a, 2988 records)

Access: Public (released 22-Nov-2013)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [261.32kb],  Text File [228.13kb],  MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [95.31kb],  MATLAB (Variables) [95.76kb],  Text Report [343.60kb]

Column List:(hide)

Column Name Units Type Description
1 Year YYYY integer Year of observation
2 Month M integer Month of observation
3 Day D integer Day of observation
4 Site none integer GCE LTER sampling site
5 Zone none integer Nominal marsh zone
6 Plot none integer 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 Quadrat_Area m^2 floating-point Areal measurement of the quadrat frame
15 Species_Code none string Plant species code
16 Shoot_Height cm floating-point Height of the plant shoot above the substrate
17 Flowering_Status none integer Presence or absence of inflorescence
18 Plot_Disturbance none integer Presence or absence of visible plot disturbance
Statistics: Generate script code to retrieve data tables for analysis in: MATLAB, R, SAS, SPSS
Citation: Pennings, Steven C. 2013. Fall 2012 plant monitoring survey -- shoot height and flowering status of plants in permanent plots at GCE sampling sites 1-10. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d6ab31e17f7579c8d1134afce1820cb4

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants OCE-9982133, OCE-0620959, OCE-1237140 and OCE-1832178. 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.