A comparison of methods to assess long-term changes in Sonoran Desert vegetation

Knowledge about the condition of vegetation cover and composition is critical for assessing the structure and function of ecosystems. To effectively quantify the impacts of a rapidly changing environment, methods to track long-term trends of vegetation must be precise, repeatable, and time- and cost-efficient. Measuring vegetation cover and composition in arid and semiarid regions is especially challenging because vegetation is typically sparse, discontinuous, and individual plants are widely spaced. To meet the goal of long-term vegetation monitoring in the Sonoran Desert and other arid and semiarid regions, we determined how estimates of plant species, total vegetation, and soil cover obtained using a widely-implemented...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Climate, Desert Laboratory, Line-point intercept, National Park Service, Plant species, All tags... Semiarid, Vegetation monitoring, arid, plant cover, Fewer tags

Tidal Marsh Vegetation and Elevation Data

All of these files are Access Databases that contain RTK elevation survey data and the corresponding vegetation surveys that were conducted concurrently. Over 2,000 intertidal plots were sampled for plant cover, frequency of occurrence, and species richness across the six study sites. Approximately 57 vascular plant species were found in the study, including grasses, rushes, forbs and sedges. Vegetated marsh ranged in elevation from approximately local mean tide level (MTL) to the marsh-upland transition zone (upland plots, defined as areas estimated to flood 1 time per year on average, were not considered for further analysis). We assessed vegetation cover and species richness concurrently with elevation surveys...

Categories: Data; Tags: Bodega Bay, Bolinas Lagoon, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Eureka Marsh (Humboldt Bay), Extreme Weather, All tags... Jacoby Marsh (Humboldt Bay), Mad River Low (Humboldt Bay), Mugu Lagoon, Sea-Level Rise and Coasts, Seal Beach, Southwest CASC, Tijuana Estuary, Upper Newport Bay, Water, Coasts and Ice, frequency of occurrence, plant cover, salt marsh, species richness, Fewer tags

Riparian vegetation data downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park, AZ from 2014 to 2019

These data were collected by the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) to support riparian vegetation monitoring along the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and the full pool level of Lake Mead. The objectives of the GCMRC riparian vegetation monitoring program are to annually measure and summarize the status (composition and cover) of native and non-native vascular plant species within the riparian zone of the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead, assess change in the vegetation composition and cover in the riparian zone, as related to geomorphic setting and dam operations, particularly flow regime, and collect data in a manner that can be used by multiple stakeholders and is...

Tags: Arizona, Botany, Colorado River, Ecology, Geography, All tags... Geomorphology, Glen Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Information Sciences, Lake Mead, Marble Canyon, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), annual sampling, biogeography, biota, data collection, data release, datasets, environment, environmental variables, field data collection, field inventory and monitoring, field sampling, floristic composition, inlandWaters, long-term monitoring, native species, nonindigenous species, northern Arizona, ocular cover estimates, plant composition, plant cover, plant frequency, plant richness, plant species, plants (organisms), quadrat frames, randomly-selected, riparian plants, riparian zone, sample sites, species distribution, species diversity, species richness, time series datasets, vascular plants, vegetation, vegetation change, vegetation monitoring, wetland ecosystems, Fewer tags

Rangeland Ecosystem Data, Grand Canyon - Parashant National Monument, AZ, USA

These data were compiled for an assessment of rangeland ecosystem conditions of the Grand Canyon - Parashant National Monument. The approximately one-million-acre Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (PARA) is located in the northwest corner of Arizona and co-managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Park Service (NPS). This report is focused on the ca. 200,000 acres of NPS administered lands—one of the largest NPS units where livestock grazing is a permitted land-use activity. Many ecosystems in PARA are characterized by a low degree of resilience to improper grazing due to low and variable precipitation. PARA is marked by an extremely high degree of environmental heterogeneity, including...

Tags: Arizona, BLM, Botany, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Plateau, All tags... Ecology, Geography, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Information Sciences, Mojave, NPS, National Park Service, Parashant National Monument, Soil Sciences, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), biota, cattle, cattle grazing, ecological sites, ecological states, environmental heterogeneity, grazing, livestock, natural resource assessment, plant cover, plot sampling, rangeland ecosystem conditions, rangeland ecosystems, rangeland health, rangelands, soil aggregate stability, soil cover, soil geomorphic setting descriptions, soil resources, vital signs, 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

Community-level riparian plant traits, Colorado River, Grand Canyon, 2013-2015—Data

These data were compiled based on field observations and available literature. Field observations of plant cover were made in September and October of 2013 and 2014, while trait measurements were made in September and October of 2014 and 2015. Field data was collected on sandbars along the Colorado River through Grand Canyon between river miles 0 and 226. Field measurements of specific leaf area, stem specific gravity, and total cover. Plant height was taken from the Flora of North America, the Jepson Desert Manual, or A Utah Flora. Seed mass values were available from the Kew Seed Information Database (http://data.kew.org/sid/). Photosynthetic pathway was compiled from published literature. The trait values were...

Tags: Arizona, Colorado River, Community assembly, Community-level trait value, Diamond Creek, All tags... Environmental gradient, Exceedance probability, Field data, Field measurements, Field observations, Flood disturbance adaptation, Functional traits, Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Canyon, Inundation, Lees Ferry, Literature review, Marble Canyon, Photosynthetic pathway, Plant cover, Plant height, Relative species cover, Riparian plants, Sandbars, Seed mass, Species cover, Specific leaf area, Stem specific gravity, Stress adaptation, Total cover, Trait measurements, Trait values, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Fewer tags

Forecasting climate change impacts to plant community composition in the Sonoran Desert region

Hotter and drier conditions projected for the southwestern United States can have a large impact on the abundance and composition of long-lived desert plant species. We used long-term vegetation monitoring results from 39 large plots across four protected sites in the Sonoran Desert region to determine how plant species have responded to past climate variability. This cross-site analysis identified the plant species and functional types susceptible to climate change, the magnitude of their responses, and potential climate thresholds. In the relatively mesic mesquite savanna communities, perennial grasses declined with a decrease in annual precipitation, cacti increased, and there was a reversal of the Prosopis velutina...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: arid, drought, long-term change, plant cover, southwestern United States