Vegetation cover data from line-intercept transects in the long-term Small Mammal Exclusion Study (SMES) at Jornada Basin LTER, 1995-2005
type: Dataset
description: This package contains perennial vegetation cover data measured using the line-intercept method from plots with various levels of herbivore exclusion on Jornada Experimental Range (JER) and Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) lands. Study sites were established in 1995; one in black grama grassland and the other in creosotebush shrubland to compare the impact of herbivores on ecosystem processes between these vegetation types. Parallel studies were established at the Sevilleta LTER site (New Mexico, USA) and Mapimi Biosphere Reserve (Durango, Mexico). Each study site is 1 km by 0.5 km in area. Four replicate experimental blocks were randomly located at the grassland study site to measure vegetation responses using exclusion treatments including a) all mammalian herbivores, including cattle, lagomorphs, and rodents, b) lagomorphs and cattle only, c) cattle only, and d) control accessible to all herbivores. Because grazing cattle are excluded from the entire creosote site, only three replicate experimental blocks were randomly located there including a) all mammalian herbivores, including lagomorphs, and rodents, b) lagomorphs only, and c) control accessible to all herbivores. Thirty-six sampling points were positioned at 5.8-meter intervals on a systematically located 6 by 6 point grid within each plot. A permanent one-meter by one-meter vegetation measurement quadrat is located at each of the 36 points. The vegetation line-intercept measurements in this data package were made in fall 1995 and fall 2005 to coincide with low-level aerial photography campaigns. Three 29-meter lines were measured along three out of six rows of permanent vegetation quadrats. Intercept locations for live, perennial plant cover and bare ground were measured along each line at 10cm resolution, which is comparable to the resolution of the aerial photos. Plants were identified to species level where possible. The resulting cover data can used to ground-truth cover estimates fro…
issued: 2025-11-22T19:02:33.691625
modified: 2021-09-20
spatial: Location
contact point: Organization
  fn: Data Manager
keyword: abundance
keyword: amerigeo
keyword: amerigeoss
keyword: biodiversity
keyword: ckan
keyword: consumers
keyword: deserts
keyword: geo
keyword: geoss
keyword: grasslands
keyword: grazing
keyword: herbivory
keyword: land-cover
keyword: land-use-and-land-cover-change
keyword: long-term
keyword: long-term-monitoring
keyword: national
keyword: north-america
keyword: np216
keyword: nsf-gt-lterlong-term-ecological-research
keyword: plant-animal-interactions
keyword: plant-communities
keyword: plant-cover
keyword: plant-species
keyword: populations
keyword: shrubs
keyword: small-mammals
keyword: smes
keyword: species-diversity
keyword: species-list
keyword: study-086
keyword: transects
keyword: united-states
keyword: vegetation-dynamics

Web Page
type: Distribution
format: HTML
issued: 2022-02-04T07:33:37.434661
modified: 2025-11-22T19:02:33.674293
access URL: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse
media type: text/html

US Migrating
type: Agent