Percent species cover from 14 flux canopy and 19 point frame 1m x 1m plots sampled near the shrub LTER sites at Toolik Field Station, Alaska, summer 2012.

Abstract: 

Total and individual subsample species percent cover data for all plots where flux or point frame measurements were made in 2012 IVO the LTER Shrub vegetation plots at Toolik Field Station. All plots sampled were dominated either by B. nana or S. pulchra canopies. Cover estimates were made for the five most dominate functional groups using a 1m x 1m grid with 20cm2 blocks with each square representing four percent of the total area. Percentages represent absolute cover so do not sum to 100%.

Project Keywords: 

Data set ID: 

10148

EML revision ID: 

5
Published on EDI/LTER Data Portal

Citation: 

Shaver, G. 2013. Percent species cover from 14 flux canopy and 19 point frame 1m x 1m plots sampled near the shrub LTER sites at Toolik Field Station, Alaska, summer 2012. Environmental Data Initiative. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/cd9516d28ef5f7931ab108de3d5f7384
People

Owner/Creator: 

Contact: 

Additional People: 

Data Manager
Field Crew
Associated Researcher
Associated Researcher
Dates

Date Range: 

Saturday, June 23, 2012 to Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Publication Date: 

2013

Methods: 

PERCENT COVER METHOD
Total and individual subsample species percent cover data for all plots where flux or point frame measurements were made in 2012 IVO the LTER Shrub vegetation plots at Toolik Field Station. All plots sampled were dominated either by B. nana or S. pulchra canopies. Locations were preferentially chosen to represent tall shrub canopies (height > 70 cm) and to avoid the edge of vegetation stands or locations where the canopy appeared unhealthy, trampled, or patchy.

We split the 1m x 1m plots into 25 sub plots using a grid, then estimated percent cover of the five most common functional groups/species in each of the sub plots individually and then summed the percentage from each plot (representing 4% total cover) to obtain the total cover by functional group/species. For each measurement, at least two field technicians performed the estimates by species; the value recorded was the average of the two (or more) estimates. The total vascular plant cover for the entire plot is the sum of all species cover percentages; the total plant cover is the vascular plant cover plus moss cover. Percentages represent absolute cover, and thus they do not sum to 100%

Each spp is assigned a 6 letter code; the first 3 letters of genus and species name. SPP indicates the species is not known.

Where many graminoids were growing together it was often impossible to judge the individual percentages, so only the total for the growth form is given; the main species present are listed in the notes column.

The species or functional groups identified in the 1m x 1m point frame and chamber flux plots are are coded to match those collected by ITEX harvest plots from 2003 - 2009 as defined here:

SPECIES | CODE | FUNCTIONAL GROUP | COMMENTS
Betula nana | BET NAN | D |
Forb | FORB | F |
Grass or sedge - unidentified | GRAMMINOID | GRM |
Ledum palustre | LED PAL | E |
Moss - unidentified |MOSS |B |
Pedicularis species | PED SPP | F |
Potentilla species | POT SPP | F |
Salix glauca | SAL GLA | D |
Salix pulchra | SAL PUL |D |
Salix reticulata | SAL RET | D |net veined willow
Vaccinium vitis-ideae |VAC VIT |E |
Vaccinium uliginosum | VAC ULI | D | bog blueberry

Growth forms (functional groups) are abbreviated as follows:
D = deciduous shrub
E = evergreen shrub
F = forb
GRM = graminoid or sedge
B = bryophyte (mosses and liverworts)

#N/A refers to a value that was not recorded.

Version Changes: 

This was a season-long project, though it followed similar methods to ITEX projects performed starting in 2003 that are likely to be replicated in the future for reasearch at the Toolik Field Station, AK.
Version 2: Missing values changed to #N/A. CH 28Jan2013
Version 3: Updated metadata to newer version (with sites sheet). CH April 2013.
Version 4: Corrected eml excel file name wrong extension. JimL 16May13
Version 5: Corrected Distrubution URL. It had xlsfiles in the path. Jim L 19Jun14
Version 6: Changed Distrubution URL since the LTER network DAS system is being discontinued. JimL 9Apr2015

Sites sampled.

Full Metadata and data files (either comma delimited (csv) or Excel) - Environmental Data Initiative repository.

Use of the data requires acceptance of the data use policy --> Arctic LTER Data Use Policy