Plant survey of current vegetation, central Arizona Phoenix: desert vegetation site locations.

An extensive survey was conducted to assess the species diversity of natural desert vegetation around the CAP-LTER study area. Remnant patch habitats (mostly parks and preserves) occurring within the urban matrix / fringe were emphasized. Three outlying areas (White Tank mountains west of town, Union Hills north of town, and Usery Mountain Park east of town) were surveyed for comparison. The original intent was to provide data on the woody and spring / summer herbaceous species in each area, but drought conditions allowed the spring herbs to be surveyed twice (1998, 2001) and summer herbs surveyed only once (1999). Thus, all locations have woody data but only a subset has herbaceous data. Surveys consisted of transects (elaborated below) summarized by the patch or outlying area name followed by a number (e.g. Unhill-11, Squaw-40, Hayden-8). Herb datasets are signified by a ‘P’ for spring and a ‘U’ for summer following the transect number (e.g. PaPk-1P, PaPk-1U).