Find research datasets worth reusing

Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed site, station Oak woodland vegetation zone in Walnut Gulch Watershed, study of plant cover of Krameria erecta (littleleaf ratany) in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGE) contains plant cover of Krameria erecta (littleleaf ratany) measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed site, station Oak woodland vegetation zone in Walnut Gulch Watershed, study of plant cover of Prosopis velutina (velvet mesquite) in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGE) contains plant cover of Prosopis velutina (velvet mesquite) measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed site, station Oak woodland vegetation zone in Walnut Gulch Watershed, study of plant cover of shrubs in units of percent on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGE) contains plant cover of shrubs measurements in percent units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed site, station Oak woodland vegetation zone in Walnut Gulch Watershed, study of plant species richness in units of noper30pt5m on a yearly timescale

The EcoTrends project was established in 2004 by Dr. Debra Peters (Jornada Basin LTER, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (Luquillo LTER, USDA-FS Luquillo Experimental Forest) to support the collection and analysis of long-term ecological datasets. The project is a large synthesis effort focused on improving the accessibility and use of long-term data. At present, there are ~50 state and federally funded research sites that are participating and contributing to the EcoTrends project, including all 26 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and sites funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), USDA Forest Service, US Department of Energy, US Geological Survey (USGS) and numerous universities. Data from the EcoTrends project are available through an exploratory web portal (http://www.ecotrends.info). This web portal enables the continuation of data compilation and accessibility by users through an interactive web application. Ongoing data compilation is updated through both manual and automatic processing as part of the LTER Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA). The web portal is a collaboration between the Jornada LTER and the LTER Network Office. The following dataset from Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGE) contains plant species richness measurements in noper30pt5m units and were aggregated to a yearly timescale.

openCC (other)Aug 2021View details →

Seasonal Foliar Respiration, Assimilation, Growth, Non-structural Carbohydrates and Water Potential data from Survival/Mortality (SUMO) Experiment, Piñon /Juniper Woodland, Los Alamos NM: 2013

These data were collected as part of an ecosystem temperature and precipitation manipulation experiment on mature piñon (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees near Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA. The experiment used open-top chambers (OTCs) to manipulate temperature and under-canopy troughs to remove precipitation to test various hypotheses. The data presented herein contain measures of foliar carbon economy (respiration, assimilation, growth, non-structural carbohydrates) and water status (pre-dawn foliar water potential) in the growing season (April – October) of 2013.

openOpenSep 2010View details →

Bird Community Assessment in Grassland, Shrubland, and Woodland Habitats at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1991-1997)

This project was designed to sample the richness and abundance of birds on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Three types of habitat were surveyed: grassland, creosote shrubland and pinyon-juniper woodland.

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Transpiration from subarctic deciduous woodlands: environmental controls and contribution to ecosystem evapotranspiration

Data from the paper:  Sabater, AM, Ward, HC, Hill, TC, et al. Transpiration from subarctic deciduous woodlands: Environmental controls and contribution to ecosystem evapotranspiration. Ecohydrology. 2020; 13:e2190.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2190

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2019View details →

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Madagascan highlands: originally woodland and forest containing endemic grasses, not grazing-adapted grassland

Long considered a consequence of anthropogenic agropastoralism, the origin of Madagascar's central highland grassland is hotly disputed. Arguments that ancient endemic grasses formed grassland maintained by extinct grazers and fire have been persuasive. Consequent calls to repeal fire-suppression legislation, burn protected areas, and accept pastoralism as the 'salvation' of endemic grasses mount, even as the IUCN declares 98% of lemurs face extinction through fire-driven deforestation. By analysing grass data from contemporary studies, and assessing endemic vertebrate habitat and feeding guilds, we find that although the grassland potentially dates from the Miocene, it is inhospitable to endemic vertebrates, and lacks obligate grazers. Endemic grasses are absent from dominant grassland assemblages, yet not from woodland and forest assemblages. There is compelling evidence that humans entered a highland dominated by woodland and forest, and burned it; by 1000 CE grass pollens eclipsed tree pollens, reminiscent of prevailing fire-induced transformation of African miombo woodland to grassland. Endemic grasses are survivors from vanished woody habitats where grassy patches were likely small and ephemeral, precluding adaptive radiation by endemic vertebrates to form grazing guilds. Today forests, relic tapia woodland and outcompeted endemic grasses progressively retreat in a burning grassland dominated by non-endemic, grazing-adapted grasses and cattle.

opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Data from: High ecosystem service delivery potential of small woodlands in agricultural landscapes

<ol> <li> Global forest loss and fragmentation have strongly increased the frequency of forest patches smaller than a few hectares. Little is known about the biodiversity and ecosystem service supply potential of such small woodlands in comparison to larger forests. As it is widely recognized that high biodiversity levels increase ecosystem functionality and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, small, isolated woodlands are expected to have a lower potential for ecosystem service delivery than large forests hosting more species. </li> <li> We collected data on the diversity of six taxonomic groups covering invertebrates, plants and fungi, and on the supply potential of five ecosystem services and one disservice within 224 woodlands distributed across temperate Europe. We related their ability to simultaneously provide multiple ecosystem services (multiservice delivery potential) at different performance levels to biodiversity of all studied taxonomic groups (multidiversity), forest patch size and age, as well as habitat availability and connectivity within the landscape, while accounting for macroclimate, soil properties and forest structure. </li> <li> Unexpectedly, despite their lower multidiversity, smaller woodlands had the potential to deliver multiple services at higher performance levels per area than larger woodlands of similar age, probably due to positive edge effects on the supply potential of several ecosystem services. </li> <li> Biodiversity only affected multiservice delivery potential at a low performance level as well as some individual ecosystem services. The importance of other drivers of ecosystem service supply potential by small woodlands in agricultural landscapes also depended on the level of performance and varied with the individual ecosystem service considered. </li> <li> Synthesis and applications. Large, ancient woodlands host high levels of biodiversity and can therefore deliver a number of ecosystem services. In contrast, smaller woodlands in agricultural landscapes, especially ancient woodlands, have a higher potential to deliver multiple ecosystem services on a per area basis. Despite their important contribution to agricultural landscape multifunctionality, small woodlands are not currently considered by public policies. There is thus an urgent need for targeted policy instruments to ensure their adequate management and future conservation in order to either achieve multiservice delivery at high levels or to maximize the delivery of specific ecosystem services. </li> </ol>

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Cats under cover: habitat models indicate a high dependency on woodlands by Atlantic Forest felids

Four Neotropical small and medium felids—the ocelot, jaguarundi, margay and southern tiger cat—have overlapping geographic distributions in the endangered Atlantic Forest. Local studies show that these felids avoid areas with high human impact, but the three smaller ones use human-modified areas more frequently than do ocelots. To understand how landscape changes affect the habitat distribution of these four felids in the Atlantic Forest of Argentina, we used maximum entropy models to analyze the effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors. We estimated niche breadth and overlap among these felids. The conversion of the native forest to land uses without trees was the most important variable that determined the habitat distribution of the four species. For all four species the optimal habitat covered less than 1/3 of the study area and corresponds mainly to the native forest areas. Nearly 50 percent of these areas had some level of protection. The niche width was higher for the small felids than for ocelots. Niche overlap was high for all species pairs, but higher among the small felids and lower for each of these with the ocelot. The four felids were negatively affected by native forest loss, with ocelots being more sensitive than the smaller felids. The conversion of unprotected forest areas to other types of land uses would imply a greater habitat loss for these felids. The protection of current remnants of Atlantic Forest in Argentina is important for the long-term conservation of the four felids.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Folivory has long-term effects on sexual but not on asexual reproduction in woodland strawberry

1. Plant fitness is often a result of both sexual and asexual reproductive success and, in perennial plants, over several years. Folivory can affect both modes of reproduction. However, little is known about the effects of folivory on resource allocation to the two modes of reproduction simultaneously and across years. 2. In a two-year common garden experiment we examined the effects of different levels of folivory by the strawberry leaf beetle, Galerucella tenella, on current growth, as well as current and future sexual and asexual reproduction (runners) of perennial woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca. In addition, we measured the chlorophyll content in leaves in the year of experimental damage to determine whether there was increased photosynthetic activity, and, thus, a compensatory response to herbivory. 3. In the year of experimental damage, plants that were exposed to moderate and high levels of folivory (25% and 50 % leaf area consumed, respectively) increased their photosynthetic activity compared to control plants. However, only plants exposed to high folivory exhibited negative effects, with a lower probability of flowering compared to control plants, indicating that plants exposed to low or moderate folivory were able to compensate for the damage. Negative effects of folivory were carried over to the subsequent year. Plants that were exposed to moderate folivory (25 % leaf area consumed) during one year produced fewest flowers and fruits in the subsequent year. Runner production was consistently unaffected by folivory. 4. Synthesis. Our results show that the negative effects of folivory only influence sexual reproduction in woodland strawberry. Furthermore, even though woodland strawberry can tolerate moderate amounts of folivory in the short term, the negative effects on fitness appear later; this highlights the importance of studying the effects of herbivory over consecutive years in perennial plants.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: A comparison of clearfelling and gradual thinning of plantations for the restoration of insect herbivores and woodland plants

1. Testing restoration methods is essential for the development of restoration ecology as a science. It is also important to monitor a range of taxa, not just plants which have been the traditional focus of restoration ecology. Here we compare the effects on ground flora and leaf-miners, of two restoration practices used when restoring conifer plantations. 2. Two methods of restoration were investigated: clearfelling of plantations and the gradual thinning of conifers over time. Unrestored plantations and native broad-leaved woodlands were also surveyed, these representing the starting point of restoration and the reference community respectively. The study sites consist of two forest types (acidic Quercus woodland and mesotrophic Fraxinus woodland) enabling us to compare the two restoration methods in different habitat types. We use a well-replicated, large-scale study system consisting of 32 woodland plots, each 2 ha in size. 3. There were 179 plant species identified in the plots. Clearfelled plots had greater overall ground flora species richness than other management regimes (thinned, unrestored plantation and native woodland), but the richness of woodland plant species did not differ between clearfelled, thinned, native woodland and unrestored plantation plots. 4. More than 10 000 leaf-miners comprising 122 species were collected. Increased plant species richness was associated with increased leaf-miner species richness under all management regimes except clearfelled plots. 5. Forest type did not affect the response to restoration method, i.e. there was no interaction between management regime and forest type for any of the variables measured. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that both the clearfelling and gradual thinning approaches to plantation restoration maintain woodland ground flora species. Either method can be used without detriment to woodland ground flora species richness. However, these methods differed in their effects on the leaf-miner–plant species richness relationship. If increasing invertebrate herbivore species richness is a concern the gradual thinning approach is more appropriate.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Below-ground causes and consequences of woodland shrub invasions: a novel paired-point framework reveals new insights

1. Confirming the impacts of invasive plants is essential for prioritizing management efforts, but is challenging, especially if impacts occur below ground and over long periods as hypothesized for woodland shrub invasions. 2. For this reason, we developed a novel "paired-point" framework capable of detecting the below-ground impacts of slow-growing invasive plants from short-term datasets in an investigation into the below-ground consequences of European buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica L. (hereafter buckthorn) invasions into Chicago-area woodlands. We measured differences between the members of 97 pairs of buckthorn-invaded and buckthorn-free points in ten below-ground response variables (RVs) that buckthorn is hypothesized to alter (listed below). We then modelled these differences (ΔRVs) in response to the severity of the invasion found at each invaded point. A relationship (linear or non-linear) between a ΔRV and severity, i.e. slope ≠ 0, suggests a buckthorn-induced change. An intercept (value of ΔRV where severity = 0) different from zero suggests a pre-existing difference. 3. Relating differences to an invasion gradient rather than simply noting their presence provided evidence that the higher levels of moisture, pH, total C, total N, NH4+-N, and Ca2+ in invaded soils pre-date and possibly promote invasion (particularly Ca2+), and that neither earthworm biomass nor soil C:N ratios are associated with buckthorn invasion, all of which suggest buckthorn to be less of a "driver" of below-ground change than hypothesized. We did, however, find evidence that buckthorn establishes in areas having greater leaf-litter mass and higher rates of decomposition, and then proceeds to accelerate decomposition further and to alter spring soil NO3--N levels. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our findings suggest that decisions regarding regional buckthorn management should be less driven by concerns about buckthorn's below-ground impacts, and that greater consideration of how variation in below-ground factors relates to invader establishment is needed, rather than simply assuming this variation to be invader-induced. This latter consideration can help to design better-targeted monitoring programs, limiting the further spread of woodland invaders. These insights illustrate the utility of the paired-point framework both for investigating below-ground causes and consequences of slow-growing invasive plants and for guiding the management of these invasions.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Allometry and growth of eight tree taxa in United Kingdom woodlands

As part of a project to develop predictive ecosystem models of United Kingdom woodlands we have collated data from two United Kingdom woodlands - Wytham Woods and Alice Holt. Here we present data from 582 individual trees of eight taxa in the form of summary variables relating to the allometric relationships between trunk diameter, height, crown height, crown radius and trunk radial growth rate to the tree's light environment and diameter at breast height. In addition the raw data files containing the variables from which the summary data were obtained. Large sample sizes with longitudinal data spanning 22 years make these datasets useful for future studies concerned with the way trees change in size and shape over their life-span.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Litter microbial and soil faunal communities stimulated in the wake of a volcanic eruption in a semi-arid woodland in Patagonia, Argentina

Large-scale disturbances can be important components of the temporal landscape of natural ecosystems, but generalities regarding ecosystem impacts are difficult due to their infrequent and unpredictable nature. Volcanic eruptions figure as one of the most prominent of these natural disturbances, but the effects on microbes and ground-dwelling arthropods, which modulate carbon and nutrient turnover, are relatively unknown. We evaluated the effects of the 2011 Puyehue-Cordón Caulle eruption in Patagonia, Argentina, on the litter and soil microbial and faunal communities in natural and afforested semi-arid ecosystems located 70 km west of the epicentre of the eruption. We hypothesized that volcanic ash deposition would strongly reduce soil faunal and microbial communities due to insecticidal effects of ash on arthropods, with a concomitant reduction in ecosystem processes. Our objective was to quantify the impact of the volcanic eruption by comparing pre- and post-eruption time points in the same study site, with nearly identical field methodology. We measured environmental variables of soil and litter moisture, pH, microbial biomass, and soil and litter microbial enzymatic activity. We evaluated ground-dwelling arthropods and nematodes using pitfall traps and soil extraction, respectively. Additionally, a parallel, controlled-condition experiment of simulated ash deposition was conducted to evaluate ash effects on litter decomposition and enzymatic activity. In the field, post-eruption soils had lower soil water content, pH and soil organic matter. Additionally, nematode abundance and soil microbial enzyme activity were significantly reduced. In contrast, ground-dwelling arthropods and litter enzymatic activity increased significantly. Finally, with simulated ash deposition, litter decomposition increased fourfold for native litter decomposition. Large-scale disturbances may play a key role in biogeochemical cycling in affected natural ecosystems, but not necessarily due to their catastrophic effects. In contrast to our original predictions, we observed a marked stimulation of biotic activity and carbon turnover in the aftermath of the Puyehue volcanic eruption, which demonstrates that the biotic component of these ecosystems has a substantial capacity to respond to these disturbances in short time frames. These results can contribute to placing the role of these large-scale infrequent disturbances in a more robust ecological context.

opencc-zeroAug 2019View details →

Data from: Will natural resistance result in populations of ash trees remaining in British woodlands after a century of ash dieback disease?

Novel pests and diseases are becoming increasingly common, and often cause additional mortality to host species in the newly contacted communities. This can alter the structure of the community up to, and including, the extinction of host species. In the last twenty years, ash dieback disease (ADB) has spread into Europe from East Asia. It has caused substantial mortality in ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior L.) populations. However, a proportion of the individuals in most populations appears to be less susceptible to ADB and resistance seems to have high heritability. These observations have led to suggestions that ash populations may be sustainable after the disease. In order to test this hypothesis, I modified an existing model of UK woodland (parameterised for Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire) to take into account the impact of ADB, and allowed offspring to inherit resistance traits from their parent. The results suggest that ash populations would still exist in 100 years but at lower levels than they are currently. For example, when the initial proportion of resistant individuals is about 10% and heritability of resistance is 0.5, then the population of ash falls to about one third of present levels. The proportion of individuals initially resistant to ADB had a larger effect on population size after 100 years than the heritability of resistance. The fact that the initial size of the resistant population is important to achieving a high population size in the presence of ADB suggests that a selective breeding programme with the intention of augmenting the natural ash populations would be beneficial.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Ecological resistance surfaces predict fine scale genetic differentiation in a terrestrial woodland salamander

Landscape genetics has seen tremendous advances since its introduction, but parameterization and optimization of resistance surfaces still poses significant challenges. Despite increased availability and resolution of spatial data, few studies have integrated empirical data to directly represent ecological processes as genetic resistance surfaces. In our study, we determine the landscape and ecological factors affecting gene flow in the western slimy salamander (Plethodon albagula). We used field data to derive resistance surfaces representing salamander abundance and rate of water loss through combinations of canopy cover, topographic wetness, topographic position, solar exposure, and distance from ravine. These ecologically-explicit composite surfaces directly represent an ecological process or physiological limitation of our organism. Using generalized linear mixed effects models, we optimized resistance using a non-linear optimization algorithm to minimize model AIC. We found clear support for the resistance surface representing the rate of water loss experienced by adult salamanders in the summer. Resistance was lowest at intermediate levels of water loss and higher when the rate of water loss was predicted to be low or high. This pattern may arise from the compensatory movement behavior of salamanders through suboptimal habitat, but also reflects the physiological limitations of salamanders and their sensitivity to extreme environmental conditions. Our study demonstrates that composite representations of ecologically-explicit processes can provide novel insight and can better explain genetic differentiation than ecologically-implicit landscape resistance surfaces. Additionally, our study underscores the fact that spatial estimates of habitat suitability or abundance may not serve as adequate proxies for describing gene flow, as predicted abundance was a poor predictor of genetic differentiation.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Multilocus phylogeography of a widespread savanna-woodland adapted rodent reveals the influence of Pleistocene geomorphology and climate change in Africa's Zambezi region

Understanding historical influences of climate and physiographic barriers in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains limited for many regions of the world. For mammals of continental Africa, phylogeographic studies, particularly for West African lineages, implicate both geographic barriers and climate oscillations in shaping small mammal diversity. In contrast, studies for southern African species have revealed conflicting phylogenetic patterns for how mammalian lineages respond to both climate change and geologic events such as river formation, especially during the Pleistocene. However, these studies were often biased by limited geographic sampling or exclusively focused on large-bodied taxa. We exploited the broad southern African distribution of a savanna–woodland-adapted African rodent, Gerbilliscus leucogaster (bushveld gerbil) and generated mitochondrial, autosomal and sex chromosome data to quantify regional signatures of climatic and vicariant biogeographic phenomena. Results indicate the most recent common ancestor for all G. leucogaster lineages occurred during the early Pleistocene. We documented six divergent mitochondrial lineages that diverged ~0.270–0.100 mya, each of which was geographically isolated during periods characterized by alterations to the course of the Zambezi River and its tributaries as well as regional 'megadroughts'. Results demonstrate the presence of a widespread lineage exhibiting demographic expansion ~0.065–0.035 mya, a time that coincides with savanna–woodland expansion across southern Africa. A multilocus autosomal perspective revealed the influence of the Kafue River as a current barrier to gene flow and regions of secondary contact among divergent mitochondrial lineages. Our results demonstrate the importance of both climatic fluctuations and physiographic vicariance in shaping the distribution of southern African biodiversity.