Find research datasets worth reusing

openother-atFeb 2018View details →

Data and code from: Studies on reproductive allocation in Kuringai shrubs

This repository contains all the code and data used to produce figures in the paper: Wenk EH, Abramowicz K, Falster DS & Westoby M (2024) Is allocation among reproductive tissues coordinated with seed size? Oikos Wenk EH, Abramowicz K, Westoby M, & Falster DS (2018) Investment in reproduction for 14 iteroparous perennials is large and associated with other life-history and functional traits. Journal of Ecology.  See instructions in the file README.md on how to access the data and reproduce the analyses from the paper.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Data for: Effects of fire on ground-dwelling arthropods in a shrub-dominated grassland

Arthropods are abundant and diverse animals in many terrestrial food webs. In western Oklahoma, some shrublands are interspersed with discrete, dense thickets of tall, woody vegetation, known as mottes. Some of these shrublands are managed with prescribed burning. The goal of this study was to examine if prescribed burning interacted with habitat type (i.e., shrubland vs. mottes) to affect ground-dwelling arthropod communities. Arthropods were collected in pitfall traps at four sampling locations in relation to mottes; in the center of mottes, and three plot location in shrublands; 1m, 15m, and 50m away from the edge of the motte. There were three treatment levels for burning: one-year post burn (burned in dormant months of 2017), two-years post burn (burned in dormant months of 2016), and unburned (burned in dormant season of 2014 and prior). There were no significant interactions between prescribed burning and habitat type. Mottes had a different community of arthropods compared to the surrounding shrubland. Mottes also had lower overall abundance, but a higher diversity of arthropods. In terms of fires, arthropod communities one year after burning were different from those two or more years after burning. There was no effect of burning on overall arthropod abundance, but plots that were one year since burning had significantly lower diversity compared to plots that were two or more years post-burn. The results of this study suggest that both fire and mottes can independently facilitate heterogeneity in arthropod communities, but they do not appear to interact with one another.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Data for pith width, leaf size, and twig thickness of trees and shrubs

Premise of the study: As an extension of E. J. H. Corner's Rule that twig diameter increases with leaf size, we hypothesized that pith width also increases with leaf size. The benefit to the plant from the proposed relationship is that pith is a low-cost tissue that reduces the metabolic cost of large diameter twig production. Methods: Leaf sizes and cross-sectional areas of bark, xylem, and pith of 81 species of trees and shrubs growing in Gainesville, Florida were measured and compared with standardized major axis regressions of pairwise species trait values and phylogenetically independent contrasts. Key results: Pith area increases with leaf size with or without accounting for phylogenetic relationships. In agreement with Corner's rule, overall twig diameter as well as bark and wood thickness also increase with leaf size. Thicker twigs showed more variation in relative pith, wood, and bark cross-sectional areas compared to thinner twigs. Conclusions: Investments in pith, a tissue of low density found in the centers of twigs, provides a low cost way to increase twig circumference and thereby space for attachment of large leaves while increasing the overall second moment of area of twigs (I), which increases their ability to biomechanically support large leaves.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Tall shrub biomass estimates

Applications that scale-up from the individual to the plot-level and beyond require methods that reduce propagated error. Here we present a field protocol that minimizes individual shrub uncertainty as measured by the range in 95%PI, while increasing the precision and the accuracy of plot-level biomass estimates. In particular and by example, we show a substantial increase in precision over sample plot estimates using single-component allometry. Given diameter D, single-component allometric equations describe woody biomass M as a power function M = aDp, with p >1; uncertainty also scales as a power function of D. We present a field method that increases accuracy and precision of plot-level biomass estimates over single-component models. The method treats shrubs with two-component allometry: terminal aerial tips and stem internodes, each modeled as log-log linear regressions with lognormally distributed prediction intervals. The following field-sampling algorithm reduces uncertainty in estimated biomass of large (DRC >Dmax) shrubs, where diameter Dmax offers the greatest acceptable uncertainty for M(D) = aDp. Step-1: Identify root collar. Step-2: Record diameter D1 there. Step-3: If D1≤ Dmax, stop; aerial tips with D≤ Dmax have acceptably low uncertainty. If D1> Dmax, identify stem internode above D1 as a conic frustrum. Record its length L and end diameters D1> Dmax and D2 (where D2 is measured just below the upper node swelling). Step-4: return to Step-2 for stems above the node, treating each stem diameter as D1. The individual shrub biomass estimate is the sum of biomass estimates for frustra and aerial tips with associated uncertainties. The uncertainty in each sample-plot is calculated using Monte Carlo sampling of internodes and tips from lognormal distributions with parameters estimated from log-log allometry. For individual shrubs uncertainty was halved by two-component method and accuracy increased. At the plot level, we found that among 1,430 individual Salix and Alnus shrubs (2.5 ≤DRC ≤30.4 cm) measured in 17 plots (169m2), we found that the uncertainty in total sample-plot biomass estimation using the two-component method was 40% less than the single-component method; this difference depends on shrub count with DRC >Dmax. Reducing field-sample prediction error increases precision in multi-stage modeling because additional measures efficiently improve plot-level biomass precision, reducing uncertainty for shrub biomass estimates.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Data to accompany: Seedling responses to soil moisture amount versus pulse frequency in a dominant semi-arid shrub

The timing, frequency and quantity of rainfall is rapidly changing in dryland regions, leading to profound alterations to dryland plant communities. Understanding dryland plant responses to future rainfall scenarios is crucial for implementing proactive management strategies, particularly in light of intensive changes to land cover concurrent with climate change. One such change is woody plant encroachment, an increasing abundance of woody plant species in areas formerly dominated by grasslands or savannas. The continued encroachment of P. velutina will depend, in part, on seedling capacity to establish and thrive under future climate conditions. Seedling performance is primarily impacted by soil moisture conditions that are governed by precipitation amount (quantity) and frequency. We hypothesized that H1) seedling performance would be enhanced by both greater soil moisture and greater pulse frequency, such that seedlings with similar mean soil moisture would perform best under high moisture pulse frequency. Alternatively, H2) mean soil moisture would have greater influence than pulse frequency, such that at a given pulse frequency would have little influence on seedling performance. The hypotheses were tested by growing 256 P. velutina seedlings under two distinct soil moisture treatments, each of which was maintained by two different pulse frequency treatments. Contrary to H1, mean soil moisture had far greater impact than pulse frequency on seedling growth, photosynthetic gas exchange, leaf chemistry and biomass allocation. These results indicate that P. velutina seedling establishment may be more responsive to rainfall amount than rainfall frequency.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Plant and pollinator interactions from British Columbia from Oak Savannah, Shrub-Steppe, and restored hedgerows

This dataset contains the data analyzed in "Guzman, L.M., Chamberlain, S. and Elle, E. (2021) Network robustness and structure depends on the phenological characteristics of plants and pollinators. Ecology and Evolution" The data comprises plant-pollinator interactions collected in three ecosystems (Oak Savannah, Shrub-Steppe and restored hedgerows) from British Columbia. These three vegetation types comprised three different studies. The average distance between sites within studies was 19km, 18km and 29km for the oak savannah, shrub-steppe and hedgerows respectively. For simplicity we use "pollinator" throughout this paper to refer to insects and hummingbirds observed visiting flowers and contacting reproductive organs, although their effectiveness at transfer of pollen has not been assessed. The networks were comprised largely of bees, with wasps and hoverflies also common. Less common were butterflies and beetles. The plants were largely forbs with some shrubs; insect-pollinated trees were not sampled for largely logistical reasons of tree height but tended to be uncommon in these ecosystems.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2022View details →

Dataset with square plots across Sierra Nevada (Spain) where the contours of all juniper shrubs were annotated as polygons using centimetric GPS and very high resolution aerial and satellite RGB images

This dataset is a shapefile of 767 polygons describing the contours of Juniperus communis L. and Juniperus sabina L. shrubs for the year 2021 in rectangular plots across Sierra Nevada. The coordinates of the polygons were obtained from a field work campaign with a differential centimetric GPS, and their contours were drawn manually in QGIS using the Google Earth satellite image for 2020 and the PNOA aerial image for the 2020.  This dataset also contains an excel file describing the features of each polygon: the polygon centroid coordinates, the type of species, the sexgender, the morphotype, the damage in the vegetation cover estimated in the field and telematically, certainty of the digitalization with QGIS and also if the differential centimetric GPS used belongs to the University of Granada or the University of Almeria.

embargoedcc-by-4.0May 2024View details →

Data related to article: Shrubs exhibit competitive interactions with herbaceous plants and shape community assemblage and functional composition in alpine western Himalaya

To understand the interaction between dominant shrubs and herbacous communities in the alpine region of western Himalaya, a field study was conducted along the elevation gradient (3500-5000 masl). During the field survey, we have collected population data, plant functional trait data and soil physico-chemical  data from shrub undercanopy and  adjacent open habitats.  Relative Interaction Index and L0g ratio were calculated using the population data. Further, plant functional traits data and soil physicochemical data were utilised to understand the functional comoposition and resource availability occuring in the contrasting habitats.

Fig. 12 in Using RADseq to resolve species boundaries in a morphologically complex group of yellow-flowered shrubs (Geleznowia, Rutaceae)

Fig. 12. Geleznowia narcissoides: (a) single-stemmed habit; (b) inflorescence with eight young buds surrounded by pale lemon-yellow bracts; (c) flowering branchlet highlighting the obovate, sessile, dark green leaves below the large inflorescence subtended by a number of broad bracts and sepals; (d) open flower with a long style and obovoid stigma surrounded by large sepals covered in dense hairs 0.1–0.6 mm long; (e) G. narcissoides (left) co-occurring with G. calycina (right), which has smaller and few flowers and bracts that become strongly flushed in red postpollination. Vouchers: A.D. Crawford ADC 1846 (a); A.D. Crawford ADC 1381 (b); K.A. Shepherd & C.F. Wilkins KS 1727 (c); K.A. Shepherd & C.F. Wilkins KS 1728 (d, e left); K.A. Shepherd & C.F. Wilkins KS 1729 (e right). Photos: A. D. Crawford (a, b); K. A. Shepherd (c–e).

Fig. 5. SplitsTree4 in Using RADseq to resolve species boundaries in a morphologically complex group of yellow-flowered shrubs (Geleznowia, Rutaceae)

Fig. 5. SplitsTree4 Neighbour-Net network constructed from MATCHST-ATES distances between samples of Geleznowia on the basis of 7392 unlinked SNPs. Numbered groups supported by indicated splits correspond with genomic groups from the PCA. Colours correspond to initial morphological identification. Tip labels indicate population numbers. The scale bar indicates distance. Parallel lines show splits in the data, which separate all the samples into two groups.

Fig. 2 in Using RADseq to resolve species boundaries in a morphologically complex group of yellow-flowered shrubs (Geleznowia, Rutaceae)

Fig. 2. Distribution of sampled populations of Geleznowia in Western Australia. Rectangles surrounding population labels and symbols are coloured by initial morphological identification corresponding to forms recognised at the outset of this study. Populations are numbered, increasing south to north. Smaller symbols correspond to herbarium specimens and are coloured similarly. The base map is sourced from GADM (ver. 3.6, see https://gadm.org), with grey borders showing the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) subregions (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment 2020).

Fig. 1 in Using RADseq to resolve species boundaries in a morphologically complex group of yellow-flowered shrubs (Geleznowia, Rutaceae)

Fig. 1. Floral variation within Geleznowia (Rutaceae), compared with two allied outgroups included in this study (Philotheca and Drummondita). Identifications at the outset of this study (names are not necessarily correct following taxonomic changes presented in this paper): (a) Geleznowia amabilis; (b) G. verrucosa; (c) G. sp. Binnu; (d) G. sp. Marchagee; (e) G. 'White Peak'; (f) Philotheca sericea; (g) Drummondita ericoides. Vouchers: A. Crawford ADC 1384 (PERTH 07828659) (a), A. Crawford ADC 1357 (PERTH 07752180) (b), K.A. Shepherd KS 1728 (PERTH 09508031) (c), J.A. Wege JAW 2139 (CANB, MEL, PERTH 09507825) (d), A. Crawford ADC 588 (PERTH 07118252) (e), K.A. Shepherd KS 1735 (PERTH 09508678) (f), and A. Chant 4007 (PERTH 09508708) (g). Photos by A. Crawford (a, b, e), J. A. Wege (d), K. A. Shepherd (c, f), and A. Chant (g).

FIGURE 18a–f in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 18a–f. Distribution maps of leafhopper species of Discolopeus gen.n. and associated plants. a. Galenia africana; b. D. diacaenus sp.n.; c. Diospyros austro-africana; d. Diospyros ramulosa; e. Potential natural distribution of D. arctus sp.n.; f. Antizoma miersiana in north western South Africa and southern Namibia.

FIGURE 15a–i. Discolopeus gen.n in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 15a–i. Discolopeus gen.n. species, habitus, D. triacaenus sp.n. a. Holotype, male; b. Paratype, male, Ladismith; c, d, e. Nietgenaamd, female; dorsally, laterally and face, respectively; f. Ladismith, female; D. tetracaenus sp.n.; g. Beaufort West, male; h. Rust en Vrede, Oudtshoorn, male; i. Holotype, male, Willowmore.

FIGURE 11a–h. Discolopeus thigmacaenus n in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 11a–h. Discolopeus thigmacaenus n.gen. & sp., male and female genitalia, line drawing. a. Genital capsule, dorsally; b. Genital capsule, laterally; c. Subgenital plate, ventrally; d, e. Aedeagus, laterally and dorsally respectively; f. Style, dorsally; g. Connective; h. Sternite VII.

FIGURE 4a–i. Discolopeus colopeus n in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 4a–i. Discolopeus colopeus n.gen. & sp., male and female genitalia, line drawing. a. Genital capsule, dorsally; b. Genital capsule, laterally; c. Subgenital plate, ventrally; d. Tergite X, recess for aedeagal process, ventrally; e. Aedeagus, style and connective, dorsally; f. Aedeagus, laterally; g. Apex, aedeagal paraphysis, laterally; h. Connective, dorsally; i. Sternite VII.

FIGURE 20a–g in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 20a–g. Cladograms from parsimony, Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses of morphology of Discolopeus new genus with nine new species. a. TNT, bootstrap above, jackknife below node bar; b. PAUP, bootstrap above, jackknife below node bar; c. Mr Bayes; d. RAxML. Parsimony analysis of Endemicity with TNT; e. biomes; f. climate; g. north, south, east, west and central areas of South Africa.

FIGURE 7a–m. Discolopeus arctus n in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 7a–m. Discolopeus arctus n. gen. & sp., male and female genitalia, line drawing. a. Genital capsule, dorsally; b. Genital capsule, laterally; c. Subgenital plate, ventrally; d, e, f. Aedeagus, laterally, dorsally and ventrally respectively; g, h. Style, dorsally and laterally respectively; i. Connective, dorsally; j. Sternite VII; k, l. Valvifers 1, laterally, Clanwilliam and Nieuwoudtville respectively; m, profemur chaetotaxy.

FIGURE 14a–h. Discolopeus tetracaenus n in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 14a–h. Discolopeus tetracaenus n.gen. & sp., male and female genitalia, line drawing. a. Genital capsule, dorsally; b. Genital capsule, laterally; c. Subgenital plate, ventrally; d, e, f. Aedeagus, ventrally, laterally and dorsally respectively; g. Style, dorsally; h. Style apophysis, laterally.

FIGURE 10a–g. Discolopeus copeus n in A new leafhopper genus Discolopeus and nine new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae) associated with shrubs, trees and poisonous plants in South Africa

FIGURE 10a–g. Discolopeus copeus n.gen. & sp., habitus. a, b. Male, laterally and dorsally respectively; c, d. Female, dorsally and laterally respectively; e, f. Nymph, early and late instar respectively; g. Face, male.