Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Set Details

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GCE-LTER Data Set Summary

Accession:

PLT-GCEM-0812b

Research Theme:

Plant Ecology (Monitoring)

Contributors:

Steven C. Pennings, Wade Sheldon

Title:

Fall 2008 plant monitoring survey -- biomass calculated from shoot height and flowering status of plants in permanent plots at GCE sampling sites 1-10

Abstract:

The biomass of plants surveyed in permanent plots at 10 GCE LTER sampling sites in October 2008 was estimated based on allometric relationships between biomass and shoot height and flowering status derived for each site, zone, and species in October 2002 and October 2008. Biomass was only calculated for dominant species, including Spartina alterniflora, S. cynosuroides, Juncus roemerianus, and Zizaniopsis miliacea, as well as rarer species including Scirpus spp, Panicum spp. and Typha angustifolia. This data set is based on GCE plant monitoring survey data set PLT-GCEM-0812a, and allometric relationships were based on GCE data sets PLT-GCEM-0211b, PLT-GCEM-0711 and PLT-GCEM-2011.

DOI:

10.6073/pasta/9f8c619e4d480ddf073c9077a523e6fa

Key Words:

biomass, flowering, marshes, monitoring, Panicum, permanent plots, plant communities, plant cover, plant ecology, 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:

25-Oct-2008 to 28-Oct-2008

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 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 (Allometry data set containing biomass/height relationship parameters per species), PLT-GCEM-0711 (Allometry data set containing biomass/height relationship parameters per species), PLT-GCEM-0812a (Corresponding plant abundance and height survey), PLT-GCEM-2011 (Allometry data set containing biomass/height relationship parameters per species)

Project References:

End of year biomass

Publications:

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.

Wieski, K. and Pennings, S.C. 2014. Climate Drivers of Spartina alterniflora Saltmarsh Production in Georgia, USA. Ecosystems. 17(3):473-484. (DOI: 10.1007/s10021-013-9732-6)

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:

Data Table: PLT-GCEM-0812b (Main data table for data set PLT-GCEM-0812b, 2764 records)

Access: Public (released 11-Dec-2009)

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

Data Formats: Spreadsheet (CSV) [274.16kb], Text File [227.08kb], MATLAB (GCE Toolbox) [107.75kb], MATLAB (Variables) [102.75kb], Text Report [368.15kb]

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	Flag_Species_Code	none	string	QA/QC flags for Plant species code (flagging criteria, where "x" is Species_Code: flag_notinlist(x, "A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A13")="Q", manual)
17	Shoot_Height	cm	floating-point	Height of the plant shoot above the substrate
18	Flowering_Status	none	integer	Presence or absence of inflorescence
19	Flag_Flowering_Status	none	string	QA/QC flags for Presence or absence of inflorescence (flagging criteria, where "x" is Flowering_Status: x<0="I", x>1="I", manual, strcmp(Species_Code, "A3") & ~isnull(Flowering_Status)="Q", inlist(Species_Code, "A1, A2") & ~isnull(Shoot_Height) & isnull(Flowering_Status)="Q")
20	Plot_Disturbance	none	integer	Presence or absence of visible plot disturbance
21	Flag_Plot_Disturbance	none	string	QA/QC flags for Presence or absence of visible plot disturbance (flagging criteria, where "x" is Plot_Disturbance: x<0="I", x>1="I", manual)
22	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

Statistics:

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

Citation:

Pennings, Steven C. 2008. Fall 2008 plant monitoring survey -- biomass calculated from 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/9f8c619e4d480ddf073c9077a523e6fa

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