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

Aeolian mass flux data for the Colorado Plateau

These data were compiled to measure airborne horizontal mass flux of sediments moved by wind across soils, climates, vegetation types, and land uses on the Colorado Plateau. Objectives of our study were to quantify spatial and temporal patterns in wind erosion and further our understanding of how soil and site setting, climate, and land uses are controlling wind erosion and horizontal mass flux. These data represent seasonal cumulative horizontal mass flux as measured using passive aspirated sediment traps, Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE) samplers. These data were collected in Grand and San Juan counties, Utah, and Mesa County, Colorado, USA between August 2017 and November 2020. These data were collected by the...

Categories: Data; Tags: Bears Ears National Monument, Big Springs Number Eight samplers, Canyonlands National Park, Climatology, Colorado Plateau, All tags... Ecology, GPS measurement, Geography, Grand County, Information Sciences, Moab, San Juan County, Soil Sciences, Southwestern United States, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Utah, atmospheric deposition (chemical & particulate), biogegraphy, data release, disturbance, droughts, drylands, dust, energy development, environment, field sampling, geolocation measurement, geoscientificInformation, grazing, habitat alteration and disturbance, horizontal mass flux, laboratory methods, land use and land cover, livestock, oil and gas, plot sampling, seasonal data, sediment processing, sediment transport, sedimentation, sediments, spatial analysis, spatial data, spatial patterns, temporal data, temporal patterns, unconsolidated deposits, utilitiesCommunication, wind erosion, Fewer tags