Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Set Details

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GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession:

PLT-GCES-1609

Research Theme:

Plant Ecology (Synthesis)

Contributors:

Steven C. Pennings, Wade Sheldon, Adam Sapp, Shanze Li

Title:

Long-term Plant Biomass Monitoring Data from the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project on Sapelo Island, Georgia

Abstract:

The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER program (GCE) monitors plant biomass annually with the goal of testing the hypothesis that end-of-year biomass varies as a function of 1) freshwater discharge from the Altamaha River (especially in low-marsh plots), 2) local rainfall (especially in high-marsh plots), and 3) average sea level. In 2000 we created permanent plots at all 10 GCE marsh monitoring sites. Plots were established at creek-bank and mid-marsh sites (8 plots per zone per site). Most sites are dominated by Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass), but zones at some sites are dominated by Juncus roemerianus, Spartina cynosuroides, or Zizaniopsis miliacea. An additional marsh zone (high marsh Juncus) was established at site 10 in 2005 and site 9 in 2012 to increase replication of sites with Juncus. Plants have been non-destructively monitored in October of every year from 2000 to the present, measuring the stem count, height and flowering status of every plant in each plot. Stem clipping samples were also collected adjacent to plots in 2002, 2007, and 2020, then measured, dried, weighed and statistically analyzed in order to generate allometric regression relationships between height and mass for estimation of plant biomass in corresponding plots. This data set includes cumulative long-term observations of plant stem count, height and biomass per marsh zone, plot and species at 10 GCE LTER sampling sites from 2000 to 2022, and will be updated annually to include the prior year observations.

DOI:

10.6073/pasta/dfa622d4b833b23e656ce9fecc2f1232

Key Words:

biomass, flowering, Juncus, Long-term Data, marshes, monitoring, Panicum, permanent plots, plant communities, plant cover, plant ecology, plant growth, Plant Monitoring, plants, primary productivity, Scirpus, shoot height, Signature Data, Spartina, Typha

LTER Core Area:

Primary Production

Research Themes:

GCE2 Q2 - Domain Patterns, GCE3 Area2 - Patterns within the Domain, Plant Ecology, Botany

Study Period:

10-Oct-2000 to 24-Oct-2022

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:

Cladium jamaicense, Juncus effusus, Juncus roemerianus, Panicum spp, Scirpus americanus, Scirpus olneyi, Scirpus robustus, Scirpus validus, Spartina alterniflora, Spartina cynosuroides, Typha angustifolia, Zizaniopsis miliacea

Data References:

PLT-GCEM-0211b (2002 allometry data set for biomass calculations), PLT-GCEM-0303a (2000 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0303b (2001 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0303c (2002 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0311b (2003 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0501b (2004 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0511b (2005 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0612b (2006 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0711 (2007 allometry data set for biomass calculations), PLT-GCEM-0801b (2007 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-0812b (2008 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1004b (2009 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1010b (2010 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1112b (2011 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1311b (2012 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1403b (2013 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1412b (2014 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1511b (2015 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1611b (2016 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1711b (2017 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1811b (2018 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-1911b (2019 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-2011 (2020 allometry data set for biomass calculations), PLT-GCEM-2011b (2020 plant biomass data set), PLT-GCEM-2111b (2021 plant biomass data set)

Project References:

End of year biomass

Publications:

Li, S., Hopkinson, C.S., Schubauer-Berigan, J.P. and Pennings, S.C. 2018. Climate drivers of Zizaniopsis miliacea biomass in a Georgia, U.S.A. tidal fresh marsh. Limnology and Oceanography. 63:2266-2276. (DOI: 10.1002/lno.10937)

Adams, T., Vu, H. and Pennings, S.C. 2022. Variation in Densities of the Salt Marsh Katydid Orchelimum fidicinium over Space and Time. Estuaries and Coasts. 45:260-271. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00953-y)

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: PLT-GCES-1609_Biomass_Stats (Statistical analysis of plant biomass per plot across all species, 3910 records)

Access: Public (released 01-Nov-2016)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [258.84kb], Text File [259.13kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [226.04kb], MATLAB (Variables) [259.01kb], Text Report [445.88kb]

Column List:(display)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Year	YYYY	integer	Year of observation
2	Site	none	integer	GCE LTER sampling site
3	Zone	none	integer	Nominal marsh zone
4	Plot	none	integer	Permanent plot number
5	Quadrat_Area	m^2	floating-point	Areal measurement of the quadrat frame
6	Plot_Disturbance	none	integer	Presence or absence of visible plot disturbance
7	Percent_Calculated_Biomass	%	floating-point	Percent of plant observations per plot for which biomass was calculated
8	Num_Plant_Biomass_m2	count	integer	Observations of Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species
9	Min_Plant_Biomass_m2	g/m^2	floating-point	Minimum Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species
10	Max_Plant_Biomass_m2	g/m^2	floating-point	Maximum Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species
11	Total_Plant_Biomass_m2	g/m^2	floating-point	Total Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species
12	Mean_Plant_Biomass_m2	g/m^2	floating-point	Mean Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species
13	StdDev_Plant_Biomass_m2	g/m^2	floating-point	Sample Standard Deviation of Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species
14	SE_Plant_Biomass_m2	g/m^2	floating-point	Standard Error of Plant biomass per square meter calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species

Data Table: PLT-GCES-1609_Observations (Complete plot-level data set containing all observations from October 2000 to October 2022, 71915 records)

Access: Public (released 01-Nov-2016)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [11651.31kb], Text File [10164.27kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [958.72kb], MATLAB (Variables) [958.33kb], Text Report [10745.83kb]

Column List:(display)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Date	YYYY-MM-DD	string	Calendar date
2	Year	YYYY	integer	Year of observation
3	Site	none	integer	GCE LTER sampling site
4	Site_Name	none	string	GCE LTER sampling site name
5	Zone	none	integer	Nominal marsh zone
6	Zone_Description	none	string	Nominal marsh zone description
7	Plot	none	integer	Permanent plot number
8	Flag_Plot	none	string	QA/QC flags for Permanent plot number (flagging criteria, where "x" is Plot: x<1="Q", x>10="Q")
9	Location	none	string	Geographic location code in the GCE Metadata Database for the sampling plot
10	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)
11	Location_Notes	none	string	Notes on location assignments and geographic accuracy
12	Longitude	degrees	floating-point	Geographic longitude in decimal degrees
13	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)
14	Latitude	degrees	floating-point	Geographic latitude in decimal degrees
15	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)
16	Quadrat_Area	m^2	floating-point	Areal measurement of the quadrat frame
17	Species	none	string	Plant species
18	Species_Code	none	string	Plant species code
19	Shoot_Height	cm	floating-point	Height of the plant shoot above the substrate
20	Flowering_Status	none	integer	Presence or absence of inflorescence
21	Flag_Flowering_Status	none	string	QA/QC flags for Presence or absence of inflorescence (flagging criteria, where "x" is Flowering_Status: x<0="Q", x>1="Q", strcmp(Species_Code, "A3") & ~isnull(Flowering_Status)="Q", inlist(Species_Code, "A1, A2") & ~isnull(Shoot_Height) & isnull(Flowering_Status)="Q")
22	Plot_Disturbance	none	integer	Presence or absence of visible plot disturbance
23	Plant_Biomass	g	floating-point	Plant biomass calculated from shoot height and flowering status, based on curve fits of allometric data collected for each site, marsh zone and species

Data Table: PLT-GCES-1609_Shoots_Flowering (Statistical analysis of shoot height and flowering status by plot and species, 4332 records)

Access: Public (released 01-Nov-2016)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [526.47kb], Text File [481.83kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [175.72kb], MATLAB (Variables) [173.66kb], Text Report [673.66kb]

Column List:(display)

Column	Name	Units	Type	Description
1	Year	YYYY	integer	Year of observation
2	Site	none	integer	GCE LTER sampling site
3	Site_Name	none	string	GCE LTER sampling site name
4	Zone	none	integer	Nominal marsh zone
5	Zone_Description	none	string	Nominal marsh zone description
6	Plot	none	integer	Permanent plot number
7	Species_Code	none	string	Plant species code
8	Species	none	string	Plant species
9	Plot_Disturbance	none	integer	Presence or absence of visible plot disturbance
10	Quadrat_Area	m^2	floating-point	Areal measurement of the quadrat frame
11	Tallest_Shoot	cm	floating-point	Maximum Height of the plant shoot above the substrate
12	Num_Shoots_m2	count/m^2	integer	Number of shoots per square meter
13	Num_Flowers_m2	count/m^2	floating-point	Number of flowers per square meter
14	Flag_Num_Flowers_m2	none	string	QA/QC flags for Number of flowers per square meter (flagging criteria, where "x" is Num_Flowers_m2: x<0="I", manual)
15	Total_Length_Shoots_m2	cm/m^2	exponential	Total shoot height per square meter
16	Proportion_Flowering	ratio	floating-point	Proportion of plants flowering
17	Flag_Proportion_Flowering	none	string	QA/QC flags for Proportion of plants flowering (flagging criteria, where "x" is Proportion_Flowering: x<0="I", manual)

Statistics:

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

Citation:

Pennings, Steven C. 2016. Long-term Plant Biomass Monitoring Data from the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/dfa622d4b833b23e656ce9fecc2f1232

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