Plant composition, shrub biomass, and soil biogeochemistry from an experimental drought treatment on the Colorado Plateau

These data were compiled for a study that investigated the effects of drought seasonality and plant community composition in a dryland ecosystem. In 2015 U.S. Geological Survey ecologists recorded vegetation and soil moisture data in 36 experimental plots which manipulated precipitation in two plant community types. The experiment consisted of three precipitation treatments: control (ambient precipitation), cool-season drought (-66% ambient precipitation November-April), and warm-season drought (-66% ambient precipitation May-October), applied in two plant communities (perennial grasses with or without a large shrub, Ephedra viridis) over a three-year period. These data were collected from 2015 to 2022 near Canyonlands...

Categories: Data; Tags: Achnatherum hymenoides, Botany, C3 photosynthesis, C4 photosynthesis, Canyonlands National Park, All tags... Climatology, Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Ephedra viridis, Geography, Indian ricegrass, Information Sciences, Islands of Fertility, James' galleta, Needles District, Pleuraphis jamesii, Soil Sciences, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), USGS:6553a618d34ee4b6e05c3e2b, Utah, ambient precipitation, biogeochemical cycling, biogeochemical data, biogeochemistry, biomass, biota, carbon, carbon concentrations, control treatments, cool-season drought treatments, data release, drought seasonality, droughts, dryland ecosystems, ecosystems, experimental plots, experimental seasonal drought, field inventory and monitoring, field measurements, field sampling, geoscientificInformation, interspace cover estimates, mormon tea, nitrogen, nitrogen concentrations, percent cover estimates, perennial grasses, phosphorus, phosphorus concentrations, photosynthesis, plant community composition, plants (organisms), precipitation (atmospheric), precipitation treatments, shrubland ecosystems, soil cores, soil moisture, soil sciences, soil volumetric water content, southeastern Utah, vegetation, warm-season drought treatments, Fewer tags

Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023)

These tabular data were compiled for/to monitor vegetation and biocrust cover in a never grazed grassland located in Canyonlands National Park. An objective, or objectives, of our study was to document potential changes in biocrust and vegetation cover and species composition as related to changes in land use and climate change. These data represent a timeseries of long-term vegetation and biocrust monitoring plots, dating from 1996 to 2021. These data were collected at/in Virginia Park, Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Research Center in coordination with the US National Park Service. Data were collected via field...

Categories: Data, Data Release - Revised; Tags: Canyonlands National Park, Colorado Plateau, Needles District, San Juan County, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), All tags... Utah, Virginia Park, air temperature, atmospheric and climatic processes, biocrust cover, biogeography, biological soil crusts, biota, climate change, dryland ecosystems, ecosystem monitoring, ecosystems, effects of climate change, field experiments, field inventory and monitoring, field observations, grassland, land use change, long-term ecological monitoring, long-term monitoring plots, never grazed grassland, plot sampling, point-intercept measurements, precipitation (atmospheric), precipitation measurement, rainfall measurement, snowfall measurement, species composition, tabular data, timeseries, vegetation, vegetation cover, weather monitoring, weather observations, weather station, Fewer tags

Vegetation cover, ground cover, plant mortality, and species abundance across an experimental drought treatment on the Colorado Plateau from 2010-2022

These data were compiled to assess the response of vegetation and biological soil crusts to drought in a semi-arid ecosystem on the Colorado Plateau near Moab, Utah. Objective(s) of our study were to explore how vegetation cover, soil conditions, and growing season nitrogen (N) availability are impacted by multifaceted drying climate conditions using data from a long-term precipitation reduction experiment (30% reduction). In 2010, U.S. Geological Survey biologists installed paired experimental plots with a control plot and a plot covered by a shelter that excluded 35% of incoming precipitation. These 40 sites represent shallow vs. deep soils and sandstone vs. shale parent material. These data were collected at...

Categories: Data; Tags: Botany, Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Geochemistry, Geography, All tags... Information Sciences, Moab, Soil Sciences, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), available nitrogen, biogeography, biological soil crusts, biota, control plot, data release, deep soils, droughts, elevation, environment, experimental design, experimental plot, extreme drought, field experiments, field inventory and monitoring, field methods, field sampling, focal species, foliar isotopes, geoscientificInformation, ground cover, nitrogen, plant cover, plant mortality, plant species richness, plants (organisms), plot sampling, plot-level data, precipitation (atmospheric), sandstone, sedimentary rocks, semi-arid ecosystem, shale, shallow soils, shelter plot, sites, soil chemistry, soil resources, soil sciences, soil texture, species diversity, temporal data, terrestrial ecosystems, upper Colorado Plateau, vegetation, Fewer tags