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Effects of Multiple Resource Additions on Community and Ecosystem Processes: NutNet NPP Quadrat Sampling at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Biome Transition Along Elevational Gradients in New Mexico (SEON) Study: Flux Tower Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Quadrat Study at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

The varied topography and large elevation gradients that characterize the arid and semi-arid Southwest create a wide range of climatic conditions - and associated biomes - within relatively short distances. This creates an ideal experimental system in which to study the effects of climate on ecosystems. Such studies are critical given that the Southwestern U.S. has already experienced changes in climate that have altered precipitation patterns (Mote et al. 2005), and stands to experience dramatic climate change in the coming decades (Seager et al. 2007; Ting et al. 2007). Climate models currently predict an imminent transition to a warmer, more arid climate in the Southwest (Seager et al. 2007; Ting et al. 2007). Thus, high elevation ecosystems, which currently experience relatively cool and mesic climates, will likely resemble their lower elevation counterparts, which experience a hotter and drier climate. In order to predict regional changes in carbon storage, hydrologic partitioning and water resources in response to these potential shifts, it is critical to understand how both temperature and soil moisture affect processes such as evaportranspiration (ET), total carbon uptake through gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco), and net ecosystem exchange of carbon, water and energy across elevational gradients. We are using a sequence of six widespread biomes along an elevational gradient in New Mexico -- ranging from hot, arid ecosystems at low elevations to cool, mesic ecosystems at high elevation to test specific hypotheses related to how climatic controls over ecosystem processes change across this gradient. We have an eddy covariance tower and associated meteorological instruments in each biome which we are using to directly measure the exchange of carbon, water and energy between the ecosystem and the atmosphere. This gradient offers us a unique opportunity to test the interactive effects of temperature and soil moisture on ecosystem proce

Pinon-Juniper (Core Site) Quadrat Data for the Net Primary Production Study at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

This dataset contains pinon-juniper woodland quadrat data and is part of a long-term study at the Sevilleta LTER measuring net primary production (NPP) across four distinct ecosystems: creosote-dominant shrubland (Site C, est. winter 1999), black grama-dominant grassland (Site G, est. winter 1999), blue grama-dominant grassland (Site B, est. winter 2002), and pinon-juniper woodland (Site P, est. winter 2003). Net primary production is a fundamental ecological variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of NPP are important in understanding energy flow at a community level as well as spatial and temporal responses to a range of ecological processes. Above-ground net primary production is the change in plant biomass, represented by stems, flowers, fruit and and foliage, over time and incorporates growth as well as loss to death and decomposition. To measure this change the vegetation variables in this dataset, including species composition and the cover and height of individuals, are sampled twice yearly (spring and fall) at permanent 1m x 1m plots within each site. A third sampling at Site C is performed in the winter. The data from these plots is used to build regressions correlating biomass and volume via weights of select harvested species obtained in SEV157, "Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight Data." This biomass data is included in SEV182, "Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP for Core Research Sites."

Pinon-Juniper (Core Site) Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP Data for the Net Primary Production Study at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

This dataset contains pinon-juniper woodland biomass data and is part of a long-term study at the Sevilleta LTER measuring net primary production (NPP) across four distinct ecosystems: creosote-dominant shrubland (Site C, est. winter 1999), black grama-dominant grassland (Site G, est. winter 1999), blue grama-dominant grassland (Site B, est. winter 2002), and pinon-juniper woodland (Site P, est. winter 2003). Net primary production is a fundamental ecological variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of NPP are important in understanding energy flow at a community level as well as spatial and temporal responses to a range of ecological processes. Above-ground net primary production is the change in plant biomass, represented by stems, flowers, fruit and and foliage, over time and incoporates growth as well as loss to death and decomposition. To measure this change the vegetation variables in this dataset, including species composition and the cover and height of individuals, are sampled twice yearly (spring and fall) at permanent 1m x 1m plots within each site. A third sampling at Site C is performed in the winter. Volumetric measurements are made using vegetation data from permanent plots (SEV278, "Pinon-Juniper (Core Site) Quadrat Data for the Net Primary Production Study") and regressions correlating species biomass and volume constructed using seasonal harvest weights from SEV157, "Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight Data."

Biome Transition Along Elevational Gradients in New Mexico (SEON) Study: Flux Tower Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

The varied topography and large elevation gradients that characterize the arid and semi-arid Southwest create a wide range of climatic conditions - and associated biomes - within relatively short distances. This creates an ideal experimental system in which to study the effects of climate on ecosystems. Such studies are critical given that the Southwestern U.S. has already experienced changes in climate that have altered precipitation patterns (Mote et al. 2005), and stands to experience dramatic climate change in the coming decades (Seager et al. 2007; Ting et al. 2007). Climate models currently predict an imminent transition to a warmer, more arid climate in the Southwest (Seager et al. 2007; Ting et al. 2007). Thus, high elevation ecosystems, which currently experience relatively cool and mesic climates, will likely resemble their lower elevation counterparts, which experience a hotter and drier climate. In order to predict regional changes in carbon storage, hydrologic partitioning and water resources in response to these potential shifts, it is critical to understand how both temperature and soil moisture affect processes such as evapotranspiration (ET), total carbon uptake through gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (Reco), and net ecosystem exchange of carbon, water and energy across elevational gradients. We are using a sequence of six widespread biomes along an elevational gradient in New Mexico -- ranging from hot, arid ecosystems at low elevations to cool, mesic ecosystems at high elevation to test specific hypotheses related to how climatic controls over ecosystem processes change across this gradient. We have an eddy covariance tower and associated meteorological instruments in each biome which we are using to directly measure the exchange of carbon, water and energy between the ecosystem and the atmosphere. This gradient offers us a unique opportunity to test the interactive effects of temperature and soil moisture on ecosystem proces

Effects of Multiple Resource Additions on Community and Ecosystem Processes: NutNet Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Two of the most pervasive human impacts on ecosystems are alteration of global nutrient budgets and changes in the abundance and identity of consumers. Fossil fuel combustion and agricultural fertilization have doubled and quintupled, respectively, global pools of nitrogen and phosphorus relative to pre-industrial levels. In spite of the global impacts of these human activities, there have been no globally coordinated experiments to quantify the general impacts on ecological systems. This experiment seeks to determine how nutrient availability controls plant biomass, diversity, and species composition in a desert grassland. This has important implications for understanding how future atmospheric deposition of nutrients (N, S, Ca, K) might affect community and ecosystem-level responses. This study is part of a larger coordinated research network that includes more than 40 grassland sites around the world. By using a standardized experimental setup that is consistent across all study sites, we are addressing the questions of whether diversity and productivity are co-limited by multiple nutrients and if so, whether these trends are predictable on a global scale. Above-ground net primary production is the change in plant biomass, represented by stems, flowers, fruit and and foliage, over time and incoporates growth as well as loss to death and decomposition. To measure this change the vegetation variables, including species composition and the cover and height of individuals, are sampled twice yearly (spring and fall) at permanent 1m x 1m plots within each site. Volumetric measurements are made using vegetation data from permanent plots (SEV231, "Effects of Multiple Resource Additions on Community and Ecosystem Processes: NutNet NPP Quadrat Sampling") and regressions correlating species biomass and volume constructed using seasonal harvest weights from SEV157, "Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight Data."

Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems (EDGE) Net Primary Production Quadrat Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

EDGE is located at six grassland sites that encompass a range of ecosystems in the Central US - from desert grasslands to short-, mixed-, and tallgrass prairie. We envision EDGE as a research platform that will not only advance our understanding of patterns and mechanisms of ecosystem sensitivity to climate change, but also will benefit the broader scientific community. Identical infrastructure for manipulating growing season precipitation will be deployed at all sites. Within the relatively large treatment plots (36 m2), we will measure with comparable methods, a broad spectrum of ecological responses particularly related to the interaction between carbon fluxes (NPP, soil respiration) and species response traits, as well as environmental parameters that are critical for the integrated experiment-modeling framework, as well as for site-based analyses. By designing EDGE as a research platform open to the broader scientific community, with subplots in all replicates (n = 180 plots) set-aside for additional studies, and by making data available to the broader ecological community EDGE will have value beyond what we envision here.

Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems (EDGE) Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Net primary production is a fundamental ecological variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of NPP are important in understanding energy flow at a community level as well as spatial and temporal responses to a range of ecological processes. While measures of both below- and above-ground biomass are important in estimating total NPP, this study focuses on above-ground net primary production (ANPP). Above-ground net primary production is the change in plant biomass, including loss to death and decomposition, over a given period of time. Volumetric measurements are made using vegetation data from permanent plots collected in SEV297, "Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems (EDGE) Net Primary Production Quadrat Data" and regressions correlating biomass and volume constructed using seasonal harvest weights from SEV157, "Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight Data."

Evolutionary Monitoring for the SEV LTER program at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

This dataset contains collection and specimen archive information for plant and arthropod tissue samples from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge that are currently stored in The Museum of Southwestern Biology’s Division of Genomic Resources at the University of New Mexico. The purpose of the sample collection is to allow researchers in the future to do genetic or genomic work on archived historical samples collected at six-year intervals. Six dominant, foundation plant species are represented. Stored tissues include roots from Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua gracilis, Larrea tridentata, and Machaeranthera pinnatifida, leaves from Juniperus monosperma, Larrea tridentata, and Pinus edulis, and seeds from Larrea tridentata. A few arthropods were collected opportunistically when they adhered to plant material brought back to the lab. Collection dates were from 9 October through 4 November 2019. Samples were collected within four core sites of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, NM: (Plains grassland: core_blue, Desert grassland: core_black, Desert shrubland: core_creosote, and Pinon-juniper woodland: core_PJ).

openCC0Apr 2024View details →

Nitrogen budget in a Chihuahuan desert grassland long-term nitrogen fertilization experiment at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge

Although the negative consequences of increased nitrogen (N) supply on plant communities and soil chemistry are well known, most studies have focused on mesic grasslands, and the fate of added N in arid and semi-arid ecosystems remains unclear. To study the impacts of long-term increased N deposition on ecosystem N-pools, we sampled a 26-year-long fertilization (10 g N m-2 yr-1) experiment in the northern Chihuahuan Desert at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in New Mexico. To determine the fate of the added N, we measured multiple soil, microbial, and plant N pools in shallow soils at three time points across the 2020 growing season.

openCC0Jan 2024View details →

Grassland Vegetation Line-Intercept Transects at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

In 1989, line-intercept transects were installed to evaluate temporal and spatial dynamics across vegetation transition zones. Currently, a 400m transect is sampled at a grassland site (Deep Well) which is dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama) and, near the southern end of the transect, B. gracilis (blue grama). A second grassland site (Five Points), dominated by B. eriopoda and, to the south, Larrea tridentata (creosote), is also sampled. Both sites are sampled twice a year, in May/June and September/October, and measurements are taken at a one-centimeter resolution. The biannual sampling protocol detects potential responses in both cool and warm season plants as well as pre- and post-monsoon dynamics. Several transects have been discontinued and data archived within SEV200.

openCC0Jul 2021View details →

Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) Vegetation Data from the Chihuahuan Desert Grassland and Shrubland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1995-2009)

This is data for vegetation canopy cover measured from each of the SMES study plots. Vegetation canopy cover was measured from each of the 36 one-meter2 quadrats twice each year. Animal consumers have important roles in ecosystems, determining plant species composition and structure, regulating rates of plant production and nutrient, and altering soil structure and chemistry. The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the activities of small mammals regulate plant community structure, plant species diversity, and spatial vegetation patterns in Chihuahuan Desert shrublands and grasslands. The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the activities of small mammals regulate plant community structure, plant species diversity, and spatial vegetation patterns in Chihuahuan Desert shrublands and grasslands. What role if any do indigenous small mammal consumers have in maintaining desertified landscapes in the Chihuahuan Desert? Additionally, how do the effects of small mammals interact with changing climate to affect vegetation patterns over time? This study will provide long-term experimental tests of the roles of consumers on ecosystem pattern and process across a latitudinal climate gradient. The following questions or hypotheses will be addressed. 1) Do small mammals influence patterns of plant species composition and diversity, vegetation structure, and spatial patterns of vegetation canopy cover and biomass in Chihuahuan Desert shrublands and grasslands? Are small mammals keystone species that determine plant species composition and physiognomy of Chihuahuan Desert communities? Do small mammals have a significant role in maintaining the existence of shrub islands and spatial heterogeneity of creosotebush shrub communities? 2) Do small mammals affect the taxonomic composition and spatial pattern of vegetation similarly or differently in grassland communities as compared to shrub communities? How do patterns compare between grassland and shru

openCC (other)Aug 2022View details →

Long-term above- and belowground net primary production (NPP) measurements from a grassland-shrubland transition zone in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA

Drylands are key contributors to interannual variation in the terrestrial carbon sink, which has been attributed primarily to large-scale climatic anomalies that disproportionately affect net primary production (NPP) in these ecosystems. Current knowledge around the patterns and controls of NPP is based largely on measurements of aboveground NPP (ANPP), particularly in the context of altered precipitation regimes. Limited evidence suggests belowground NPP (BNPP), a major input to the terrestrial carbon pool, may respond differently than ANPP to precipitation, as well as other drivers of environmental change, such as nitrogen deposition and fire. This data package accompanies an associated manuscript in which we used sixteen years (2005-2020) of annual NPP measurements, derived from three ongoing long-term research sites, to investigate spatiotemporal responses of ANPP and BNPP to several environmental change drivers across a grassland-shrubland transition zone in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.

openCC (other)Oct 2023View details →

Long-term species-level measurements of fall season aboveground net primary production in the Monsoon Rainfall Manipulation Experiment (MRME), Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA

Anticipated intensification of the North American Monsoon in the southwestern United States is predicted to shift growing season rainfall patterns, historically characterized by frequent small rain events, to a more extreme precipitation regime consisting of fewer, but larger rain events. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is also increasing throughout this dryland region as a result of anthropogenic activities. Alterations in rainfall size and frequency, along with changes in nitrogen availability, are likely to have significant consequences for aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and plant community dynamics in drylands, where ecological processes are limited by water and nitrogen availability. This data package accompanies an associated manuscript in which we used fourteen years (2007-2020) of growing season ANPP measurements from the long-term Monsoon Rainfall Manipulation Experiment (MRME), located in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, to investigate how changes in rainfall regimes, along with chronic nitrogen enrichment, impact ANPP in a northern Chihuahuan Desert grassland.

openOpenAug 2021View details →

Rabbit Population Dynamics in Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands and Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1992-present) (Reformatted to the ecocomDP Design Pattern)

This data package is formatted as an ecocomDP (Ecological Community Data Pattern). For more information on ecocomDP see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP. This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-sev/23/121705. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: This study explores the population dynamics of black-tail jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) and desert cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus auduboni) in the grasslands and creosote shrublands of McKenzie Flats, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. The study was initiated in January 1992, and continues quarterly each year. Rabbits are sampled via night-time spotlight transect sampling along the roads of McKenzie Flats once during winter, spring, summer, and fall. The route is 21.5 miles long. Measurements of perpendicular distance of each rabbit from the center of the road are used to estimate densities (number of rabbits per square kilometer) via Program DISTANCE. Results from January 1992 to May 2004 indicated that spring was the period of peak density period, with generally steady declines through the rest of the year until the following spring. Evidence of a long-term "cycle" (e.g., the 11-year-cycle reported for rabbits in the Great Basin Desert) does not appear in the Sevilleta rabbit populations.

openOpenAug 2021View details →

Ground Arthropod Community Survey in Grassland, Shrubland, and Woodland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1992-2004) (Reformatted to a Darwin Core Archive)

This data package is formatted as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A, event core). For more information on Darwin Core see https://www.tdwg.org/standards/dwc/. This Level 2 data package was derived from the Level 1 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/edi/333/2, which was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-sev/29/175390. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: This data set contains records for the numbers of selected groups of ground-dwelling arthropod species and individuals collected from pitfall traps at 4 sites on the Sevilleta NWR, including creotostebush shrubland, both black and blue grama grasslands, and a pinyon/juniper woodland. Data collections begin in May of 1989, and are represented by subsequent sample collections every 2 months. One site (Goat Draw/Cerro Montosa) was discontinued in 2001, and a new site (Blue Grama) was initiated . Only three sites, creosotebush, black grama, and blue grama were continued between 2001-2004.

openCC0Dec 2025View details →

Meteorology Data from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

These files contain hourly meteorological data that were collected from a network of permanent weather stations on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge as part of the Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Program.

openCC0Aug 2021View details →

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Several long-term studies at the Sevilleta LTER measure net primary production (NPP) across ecosystems and treatments. Net primary production is a fundamental ecological variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of NPP are important in understanding energy flow at a community level as well as spatial and temporal responses to a range of ecological processes. Above-ground net primary production (ANPP) is the change in plant biomass, including loss to death and decomposition, over a given period of time. To measure this change, vegetation variables, including species composition and the cover and height of individuals, are sampled up to three times yearly (winter, spring, and fall) at permanent plots within a study site. The weight data presented here is obtained by harvesting a series of covers for species observed during plot sampling. These species are always harvested from habitat comparable to the plots in which they were recorded. This data is then used to make volumetric measurements of species and build regressions correlating biomass and volume. From these calculations, seasonal biomass and seasonal and annual NPP are determined.

openCC0Jul 2021View details →

Larrea Seedling Monitoring Study at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1999-2018)

The germination rate of creosote (Larrea tridentata) on the Sevilleta appears to be very low. During the early years of the LTER project it was attempted to quantify such germination through the use of seedling plots which were monitored on a bi-annual basis (spring and fall). During the period from 1989 through 1992 there were no creosote seedling that germinated on the monitoring plots. In 1999 a rather sizeable population of small seedlings was observed in one quite localized area in the vicinity of Five Points. This rather large number of individuals in one very limited area raised several questions:1. When did this small community of individuals germinate- the supposition is that they had all germinated at the same time.2. What conditions existed in this particular location which allowed such prolific germination when there was no indication of virtually any other germination in this vicinty.3. The most immediate question was whether these seedlings would survive through the impending La Nina winter, spring and summer as many of the individuals did not appear to be very "healthy." To help answer these questions it was decided to begin a "small" monitoring project. All of the individuals in this small area that appeared to be of the same age were marked with posts, located with GPS, measured (height) and photographed. This initial survey included 78 individuals. The population was resurveyed in August, 2000 and it was discovered that: 1. Many individuals were missed in the initial survey; 2. Most of the individuals (72 of 78) had survived the intervening 9 months; and 3. The average individual growth during this period was 1.4 cm. It is planned that this population will continue to be monitored (probably on an annual basis) to track survival and growth rate of these individuals.