Precipitation, soil moisture, and vegetation data from 36 experimental plots in southeastern Utah, near Canyonlands National Park (2015 - 2018)

These data were compiled for a study that investigated the effects of drought seasonality and plant community composition on two dominant perennial grasses, Achnatherum hymenoides (C3 photosynthesis), and Pleuraphis jamesii (C4 photosynthesis), in a dryland ecosystem. In 2015 USGS Ecologists recorded vegetation and soil moisture data in 36 experimental plots which manipulated precipitation in two plant community types. The experiment consisted of three precipitation treatments: control (ambient precipitation), cool-season drought (-66% ambient precipitation November-April), and warm-season drought (-66% ambient precipitation May-October), applied in two plant communities (perennial grasses with or without a large shrub, Ephedra viridis) over a three-year period. These data were collected from 2015 to 2018 near Canyonlands National Park, UT. These data represent precipitation, soil moisture, greenness and biomass from experimental treatments. These data can be used to compare the effects of drought seasonality on two dominant perennial grasses.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {010:12}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
datagov_dedupe_retained 20220722134805
identifier USGS:605e5ec4d34ec5fa65ee7973
metadata_type geospatial
modified 20210426
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-109.7500, 38.1890], [-109.7500, 38.1900], [ -109.7490, 38.1900], [ -109.7490, 38.1890], [-109.7500, 38.1890]]]}
publisher U.S. Geological Survey
publisher_hierarchy Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 96b782164f072ed1b29dd891d03b01e20f9433fa
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-109.7500, 38.1890], [-109.7500, 38.1900], [ -109.7490, 38.1900], [ -109.7490, 38.1890], [-109.7500, 38.1890]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • achnatherum-hymenoides
  • ambient-precipitation
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • biogeography
  • biological-control
  • biota
  • c3-photosynthesis
  • c4-photosynthesis
  • canyonlands-national-park
  • ckan
  • colorado-plateau
  • control-treatment
  • cool-season-drought-treatment
  • droughts
  • dryland-ecosystem
  • ecology
  • experimental-design
  • experimental-plot
  • field-experiments
  • field-inventory-and-monitoring
  • geo
  • geoss
  • greenness
  • national
  • north-america
  • perennial-grasses
  • phenology
  • photosynthesis
  • plant-biomass
  • plant-community-types
  • plants
  • pleuraphis-jamesii
  • plot-sampling
  • plot-treatments
  • plots
  • precipitation-atmospheric
  • precipitation-treatment-timing
  • precipitation-treatments
  • rain
  • research
  • seasonal-drought
  • soil-moisture
  • soil-moisture-data
  • southeastern-utah
  • terrestrial-ecosystems
  • united-states
  • usgs-605e5ec4d34ec5fa65ee7973
  • utah
  • vegetation
  • vegetation-data
  • warm-season-drought-treatment
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Michael C Duniway
maintainer_email mduniway@usgs.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-22T16:26:33.865716
metadata_modified 2025-11-22T16:26:33.865720
notes These data were compiled for a study that investigated the effects of drought seasonality and plant community composition on two dominant perennial grasses, Achnatherum hymenoides (C3 photosynthesis), and Pleuraphis jamesii (C4 photosynthesis), in a dryland ecosystem. In 2015 USGS Ecologists recorded vegetation and soil moisture data in 36 experimental plots which manipulated precipitation in two plant community types. The experiment consisted of three precipitation treatments: control (ambient precipitation), cool-season drought (-66% ambient precipitation November-April), and warm-season drought (-66% ambient precipitation May-October), applied in two plant communities (perennial grasses with or without a large shrub, Ephedra viridis) over a three-year period. These data were collected from 2015 to 2018 near Canyonlands National Park, UT. These data represent precipitation, soil moisture, greenness and biomass from experimental treatments. These data can be used to compare the effects of drought seasonality on two dominant perennial grasses.
num_resources 2
num_tags 52
title Precipitation, soil moisture, and vegetation data from 36 experimental plots in southeastern Utah, near Canyonlands National Park (2015 - 2018)