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  • Long-term Plant Biomass Monitoring Data from the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project on Sapelo Island, Georgia
  • Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project
    Pennings, Steven C.; University of Houston
  • 2024-02-21
  • Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project and S.C. Pennings. 2024. Long-term Plant Biomass Monitoring Data from the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project on Sapelo Island, Georgia ver 32. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/dfa622d4b833b23e656ce9fecc2f1232 (Accessed 2024-04-28).

  • The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER program (GCE) monitors plant biomass annually with the goal of testing the hypothesis that end-of-year biomass varies as a function of 1) freshwater discharge from the Altamaha River (especially in low-marsh plots), 2) local rainfall (especially in high-marsh plots), and 3) average sea level. In 2000 we created permanent plots at all 10 GCE marsh monitoring sites. Plots were established at creek-bank and mid-marsh sites (8 plots per zone per site). Most sites are dominated by Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass), but zones at some sites are dominated by Juncus roemerianus, Spartina cynosuroides, or Zizaniopsis miliacea. An additional marsh zone (high marsh Juncus) was established at site 10 in 2005 and site 9 in 2012 to increase replication of sites with Juncus. Plants have been non-destructively monitored in October of every year from 2000 to the present, measuring the stem count, height and flowering status of every plant in each plot. Stem clipping samples were also collected adjacent to plots in 2002, 2007, and 2020, then measured, dried, weighed and statistically analyzed in order to generate allometric regression relationships between height and mass for estimation of plant biomass in corresponding plots. This data set includes cumulative long-term observations of plant stem count, height and biomass per marsh zone, plot and species at 10 GCE LTER sampling sites from 2000 to 2022, and will be updated annually to include the prior year observations.

  • N: 31.539505      S: 31.307529      E: -81.228956      W: -81.478722
  • This information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The consumer of these data ("Data User" herein) has an ethical obligation to cite it appropriately in any publication that results from its use. The Data User should realize that these data may be actively used by others for ongoing research and that coordination may be necessary to prevent duplicate publication. The Data User is urged to contact the authors of these data if any questions about methodology or results occur. Where appropriate, the Data User is encouraged to consider collaboration or co-authorship with the authors. The Data User should realize that misinterpretation of data may occur if used out of context of the original study. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data.
  • https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/dfa622d4b833b23e656ce9fecc2f1232
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