I. Data Set Descriptors A. Title: Steven C. Pennings. 2007. Plant allometry at GCE sampling site 8 in October, 2007. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Catalog (data set PLT-GCEM-0711; http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/dataset_details.asp?accession=PLT-GCEM-0711) B. Accession Number: PLT-GCEM-0711 C. Description 1. Originator(s): Name: Steven C. Pennings Address: Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston Houston, Texas 77204-5513 Country: USA Email: scpennin@central.uh.edu 2. Abstract: The relationship between height and mass (allometry) was measured for plants collected from Georgia Coastal Ecosystems sampling site 8 in October 2007. This dataset supplements PLT-GCEM-0211b by providing data for 3 rare species that are common only at site 8. Shoots were collected adjacent to permanent plots in appropriate marsh zones by clipping at the soil surface. Height, flowering status (Typha and Panicum species only), and dry mass were measured for each plant. The allometric relationships determined in this study will allow annual GCE plant monitoring data to be converted from height to mass. This study may be repeated in the future to examine temporal trends in relation to environmental changes. 3. Study Type: Monitoring 4. Study Themes: Plant Ecology 5. LTER Core Areas: Primary Production 6. Georeferences: none 7. Submission Date: Nov 13, 2007 D. Keywords: allometry, height, marshes, mass, Panicum, permanent plots, plant biomass, plant communities, plant cover, plants, Primary Production, primary productivity, Scirpus, shoot height, Typha II. Research Origin Descriptors A. Overall Project Description 1. Project Title: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project 2. Principal Investigators: Name: Merryl Alber Address: Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602-3636 Country: USA Email: malber@uga.edu 3. Funding Period: May 01, 2006 to Jan 01, 2013 4. Objectives: To understand the mechanisms by which variation in the quality, source and amount of both fresh and salt water create temporal and spatial variability in estuarine habitats and processes, in order to predict directional changes that will occur in response to long-term shifts in estuarine salinity patterns 5. Abstract: The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems (GCE) LTER program, located on the central Georgia coast, was established in 2000. The study domain encompasses three adjacent sounds (Altamaha, Doboy, Sapelo) and includes upland (mainland, barrier islands, marsh hammocks), intertidal (fresh, brackish and salt marsh) and submerged (river, estuary, continental shelf) habitats. Patterns and processes in this complex landscape vary spatially within and between sites, and temporally on multiple scales (tidal, diurnal, seasonal, and interannual). Overlain on this spatial and temporal variation are long-term trends caused by climate change, sea level rise, and human alterations of the landscape. These long-term trends are likely to manifest in many ways, including changes in water quality, river discharge, runoff and tidal inundation patterns throughout the estuarine landscape. The overarching goal of the GCE program is to understand the mechanisms by which variation in the quality, source and amount of both fresh and salt water create temporal and spatial variability in estuarine habitats and processes, in order to predict directional changes that will occur in response to long-term shifts in estuarine salinity patterns. The objectives of the current funding cycle are 1) to continue to document long-term patterns of environmental forcing to the coastal zone, 2) to link environmental forcing to observed spatial and temporal patterns of biogeochemical processes, primary production, community dynamics, decomposition and disturbance, 3) to investigate the underlying mechanisms by which environmental gradients along the longitudinal (freshwater-saltwater) and 4) lateral (upland-subtidal) axes of estuaries drive ecosystem change, and 5) to explore the relative importance of larval transport and the conditions of the adult environment in determining community and genetic structure across both the longitudinal and vertical gradients of the estuary. To meet these objectives, we utilize a suite of approaches including long-term monitoring of abiotic drivers and ecosystem responses; manipulative and natural experiments designed to enable us to examine the importance of key ecosystem drivers; and modeling. 6. Funding Source: NSF OCE 0620959 B. Sub-project Description 1. Site Description a. Geographic Location: GCE8 -- Alligator Creek, Georgia, USA Coordinates: GCE8 -- NW: 081 25 34.58 W, 31 19 04.11 N NE: 081 24 38.28 W, 31 19 04.11 N SE: 081 24 38.28 W, 31 18 14.63 N SW: 081 25 34.58 W, 31 18 14.63 N b. Physiographic Region: GCE8 -- Lower coastal plain c. Landform Components: GCE8 -- Brackish tidal marsh d. Hydrographic Characteristics: GCE8 -- Site contains the Altamaha River, and is subject to 2-3m semi-diurnal tides e. Topographic Attributes: GCE8 -- Flat, with elevations ranging from 0-3m above mean low tide f. Geology, Lithology and Soils: GCE8 -- unspecified g. Vegetation Communities: GCE8 -- Fringe of tall Spartina alterniflora and S. cynosuroides at creek banks. High marsh has narrow band of medium height S. alterniflora backed by vast expanses of Juncus. h. History of Land Use and Disturbance: GCE8 -- Oct 01, 2000: Permanent plots were established in two nominal marsh zones based on marsh structure -- creek zone and high marsh -- and eight plots were randomly located in each zone and marked with stakes Oct 01, 2001: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots were lost due to catastrophic disturbance and replaced with new plots as indicated: zone 1 plots 5, 6, 7, 8 (added new plots 15, 16, 17, 18). New plots were not in exactly the same locations as lost plots, and so have new numbers. Oct 17, 2002: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots were disturbed by wrack (some have no shoots): C4. The following plots were disturbed by wildlife (some have no shoots): M2, M3, M4, M7 (pigs). No disturbance due to creekbank collapse was observed, and no plots were replaced. Oct 17, 2003: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots were disturbed by wildlife (some have no shoots): M2, M4. The following creekbank plots are on creekbank areas that are collapsing: C2. No disturbance by wrack was observed, but plot M8 was merging with the path and was relocated as M18. Oct 23, 2004: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots were disturbed by wildlife (some have no shoots): M2. The following creekbank plots are on creekbank areas that are collapsing: C2. The following plots were lost due to creekbank erosion, catastrophic wrack disturbance, or catastrophic wildlife activity: M3. No plots were replaced. Oct 21, 2005: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots are on creekbank areas that are collapsing: C2, C16. The following plots were disturbed by wildlife: M1, M4. No plots were lost due to creekbank erosion, and none were replaced. Oct 14, 2006: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots were lost due to creekbank erosion, catastrophic wrack disturbance, or catastrophic wildlife activity: C1, C4, C15, C16, C17, C18. The following plots had no live shoots due to seasonal senescence: M2. No plots were disturbed by wrack or wildlife, and none were replaced. Oct 20, 2007: Plots were examined for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, animal activity, and creek bank erosion. The following plots were lost for unknown reasons: C2, C11. The following plots were disturbed by wrack or wildlife activity: M1, M2, M7, M13. No plots were replaced. i. Climate: Climate summary for Sapelo Island, Georgia, based on NWS data from 1980-2010: Daily-aggregated Values: Mean (sample standard deviation) mean air temperature: 20.09°C (7.28°C) minimum air temperature: 15.02°C (7.96°C) maximum air temperature: 24.82°C (6.98°C) total precipitation: 3.26mm (10.3mm) Yearly-aggregated Daily Values: Mean (sample standard deviation) total precipitation (1980-2010): 1124mm (266mm) 2. Experimental or Sampling Design a. Design Characteristics: Shoots were collected adjacent to permanent plots in the appropriate marsh zone (creek bank and high marsh) by clipping at the soil surface. b. Permanent Plots: Permanent plots were established in the marsh areas at each GCE sampling site in October, 2000. Each site was divided into two nominal zones based on marsh structure -- creek zone and high marsh -- and eight plots were randomly located in each zone and marked with stakes. Plots are visually inspected prior to each annual survey for signs of disturbance by wrack inundation, wildlife activity, and creekbank erosion. Plots lost due to catastrophic disturbance are replaced with new plots in different locations within the same marsh zone, which are assigned distinct plot numbers. (See history of plot disturbance in the site description section for details). c. Data Collection Duration and Frequency: Plants were selected randomly during a single sampling period. Beginning of Observations: Oct 20, 2007 End of Observations: Oct 20, 2007 3. Research Methods a. Field and Laboratory Methods: Method 1: Plant Measurement -- The taxon, shoot height, and flowering status was recorded for plants collected adjacent to the GCE permanent plots. For Scirpus, only height and mass were recorded. Method 2: Dry Mass -- Plant samples were dried at 60°C for 3 days and then weighed to determine dry mass. b. Instrumentation: Method 1: none Method 2: Drying oven Manufacturer: Fisher Scientific (Model: 750G) Electronic balance Parameter: mass c. Taxonomy and Systematics: Method 1: not specified Method 2: none d. Permit History: Method 1: none Method 2: none 4. Project Personnel a. Personnel: 1: Steven C. Pennings 2: Kazimierz Wieski 3: Hongyu Guo 4: Daniel F. Saucedo b. Affiliations: 1: University of Houston, Houston, Texas 2: University of Houston, Houston, Texas 3: University of Houston, Houston, Texas 4: University of Georgia Marine Institute, Sapelo Island, Georgia III. Data Set Status and Accessibility A. Status 1. Latest Update: 19-Feb-2012 2. Latest Archive Date: 18-Nov-2011 3. Latest Metadata Update: 19-Feb-2012 4. Data Verification Status: New Submission B. Accessibility 1. Storage Location and Medium: Stored at GCE-LTER Data Management Office Dept. of Marine Sciences Univ. of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-3636 USA on media: electronic data download (WWW) or compact disk 2. Contact Person: Name: Wade M. Sheldon, Jr. Address: Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602-3636 Country: USA Email: sheldon@uga.edu 3. Copyright Restrictions: not copyrighted 4. Restrictions: All publications based on this data set must cite the contributor and Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER project, and two copies of the manuscript must be submitted to the GCE-LTER Information Management Office. a. Release Date: GCE LTER Affiliates: Nov 13, 2007, Public: Nov 13, 2007 b. Citation: Data provided by the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research Project, supported by funds from NSF OCE 0620959 (data set PLT-GCEM-0711) c. Disclaimer: The user assumes all responsibility for errors in judgement based on interpretation of data and analyses presented in this data set. 5. Costs: free electronic data download via WWW, distribution on CD may be subject to nominal processing and handling fee IV. Data Structural Descriptors A. Data Set File 1. File Name: PLT-GCEM-0711_2_2.CSV 2. Size: 121 records 3. File Format: ASCII text (comma-separated value format) 3a. Delimiters: single comma 4. Header Information: 5 lines of ASCII text 5. Alphanumeric Attributes: upper case 6. Quality Control Flag Codes: I = invalid value (out of range), Q = questionable value 7. Authentication Procedures: 8. Calculations: 9. Processing History: Software version: GCE Data Toolbox Version 3.30 (09-Feb-2012) Data structure version: GCE Data Structure 1.1 (29-Mar-2001) Original data file processed: PLT-GCEM-0711.TXT (121 records) Data processing history: 07-Jan-2008: new GCE Data Structure 1.1 created ('newstruct') 07-Jan-2008: 121 rows imported from ASCII data file 'PLT-GCEM-0711.TXT' ('imp_ascii') 07-Jan-2008: 13 metadata fields in file header parsed ('parse_header') 07-Jan-2008: data structure validated ('gce_valid') 07-Jan-2008: Q/C flagging criteria applied, 'flags' field updated ('dataflag') 07-Jan-2008: automatically assigned study date metadata descriptors based on the range of date values in date/time columns (add_studydates) 07-Jan-2008: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 07-Jan-2008: updated 66 metadata fields in the Data, Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('imp_gcemetadata') 21-Nov-2008: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 21-Nov-2008: updated 66 metadata fields in the Data, Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('imp_gcemetadata') 09-Nov-2011: manually edited data set metadata ('ui_editmetadata') 09-Nov-2011: descriptions of columns Year, Month, Day and Zone edited; variable type of column Zone edited ('ui_editor') 09-Nov-2011: calculated calendar date in DD-MMM-YYYY format from individual date component columns, added 'Date' column at position 1 ('add_datecol') 09-Nov-2011: manually edited data set metadata ('ui_editmetadata') 09-Nov-2011: descriptions of columns Date, Site, Zone, Species_Code, Shoot_Height, Flowering_Status and Plant_Mass edited; variable type of column Site edited; deleted columns Year, Month and Day from data structure ('ui_editor') 11-Nov-2011: Year, Month and Day datetime columns added after column Date ('add_datepartcols') 11-Nov-2011: descriptions of columns Year, Month and Day edited; deleted column Date from data structure ('ui_editor') 11-Nov-2011: units of columns Month and Day edited ('ui_editor') 15-Nov-2011: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 15-Nov-2011: updated 57 metadata fields in the Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('imp_gcemetadata') 18-Nov-2011: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 18-Nov-2011: updated 57 metadata fields in the Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('imp_gcemetadata') 19-Feb-2012: updated 7 metadata fields in the Data, Status sections ('exp_ascii') 19-Feb-2012: updated 15 metadata fields in the Status, Data sections to reflect attribute metadata ('updatecols') 19-Feb-2012: parsed and formatted metadata ('listmeta') B. Variable Information 1. Variable Name: column 1. Year column 2. Month column 3. Day column 4. Site column 5. Zone column 6. Species_Code column 7. Shoot_Height column 8. Flowering_Status column 9. Plant_Mass 2. Variable Definition: column 1. Calendar year sample was collected column 2. Calendar month sample was collected column 3. Calendar day sample was collected column 4. GCE sampling site code column 5. Nominal marsh zone (1 = creek bank, 2 = mid-marsh) column 6. Plant species code column 7. Height of the plant shoot column 8. Flowering status (0 = no, 1 = yes) column 9. Dry mass of the plant sample 3. Units of Measurement: column 1. YYYY column 2. M column 3. D column 4. none column 5. none column 6. none column 7. cm column 8. none column 9. g 4. Data Type a. Storage Type: column 1. integer column 2. integer column 3. integer column 4. integer column 5. integer column 6. alphanumeric column 7. floating-point column 8. integer column 9. floating-point b. Variable Codes: Site: 8 = GCE site 8 (Alligator Creek) Zone: 1 = Creekbank, 2 = Mid-marsh Species_Code: A5 = Scirpus spp., A6 = Panicum spp., A7=Typha spp. Flowering_Status: 0=not flowering, 1=flowering c. Numeric Range: column 1. 2007 to 2007 column 2. 10 to 10 column 3. 20 to 20 column 4. 8 to 8 column 5. 1 to 2 column 6. (none) column 7. 20 to 256 column 8. 0 to 1 column 9. 0.08 to 89.81 d. Missing Value Code: 5. Data Format a. Column Type: column 1. numerical column 2. numerical column 3. numerical column 4. numerical column 5. numerical column 6. text column 7. numerical column 8. numerical column 9. numerical b. Number of Columns: 9 c. Decimal Places: column 1. 0 column 2. 0 column 3. 0 column 4. 0 column 5. 0 column 6. 0 column 7. 0 column 8. 0 column 9. 2 6. Logical Variable Type: column 1. datetime (discrete) column 2. datetime (discrete) column 3. datetime (discrete) column 4. coded value (discrete) column 5. coded value (discrete) column 6. coded value (none) column 7. data (continuous) column 8. logical (discrete) column 9. data (continuous) 7. Flagging Criteria: column 1. none column 2. x<1="I", x>12="I" column 3. x<1="I", x>31="I" column 4. x<1="I", x<8="Q", x>8="Q" column 5. x<1="I", x>2="I" column 6. flag_notinlist(x,"A5,A6,A7")="Q" column 7. x<0="I", x<10="Q", x>300="Q" column 8. x<0="I", x>1="I" column 9. x<0="I", x>100="I" C. Data Anomalies: V. Supplemental Descriptors A. Data Acquisition 1. Data Forms: unspecified 2. Form Location: unspecified 3. Data Entry Validation: unspecified B. Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedures: QA/QC flags are generated automatically according to domain criteria specified for each data column. A flag column is generated and appended to the data table if any flags are assigned to any value, listing the flags for each column on each row. C. Supplemental Materials: unspecified D. Computer Programs: Microsoft Excel 2002 E. Archival Practices: Data sets and documentation are stored in structured binary (Matlab 5.x files) and delimited ASCII text formats, and archived on magnetic tape and CD at the GCE LTER Information Management Office at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA F. Publications: not specified G. History of Data Set Usage 1. Data Request History: not specified 2. Data Set Update History: none 3. Review History: none 4. Questions and Comments from Users: none