Summary Information
2003 Prescribed Burn Effect on Chihuahuan Desert Grasses and Shrubs at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico: Grass Recovery Study (2003-2012)
Creator: Individual: Esteban Muldavin Physical Address: Delivery Address: New Mexico Natural Heritage Program, Biology Department Castetter Hall 167, University of New Mexico City: Albuquerque Locality: NM Postal Code: 87131 Phone: US Email: muldavin@sevilleta.unm.edu
Metadata Provider: Individual: Information Manager Sevilleta LTER Physical Address: Delivery Address: 1 University of New Mexico City: Albuquerque Postal Code: 87131 Phone: US Phone: (505) 277-2109 Phone: (505) 277.5355 Email: data-use@sevilleta.unm.edu
Publication Date:	2016-02-29
Language:	English
Abstract: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife's plan to apply a prescribed burn to a large portion of Mckenzie Flats was deemed an opportunity to study the effects of fire on vegetation at the boundary between shrubland and grassland. This study actually was undertaken on an area that had prescribed fire applied to 8 of 16 (300 m x 300 m) plots 10 years before in 1993. This previous study had also examined the effects of fencing to exclude the indigenous prong-horn antelope. In the 2003 study the prescribed fire was applied to the northeastern half of the 16 plots while the southwestern plots were intentionally protected. Sampling prior to the prescribed burn included quantification of cover of grass species in quadrats within all of the 16 plots. Measurements were made using "niner" quadrat frames that are 30 cm x 30 cm frames that are divided into 9 1-decimeter squares. Counts of grass species were made just prior to the June 2003 burn. Following the prescribed burn, quadrats were remeasured in the fall of 2003 to quantify mortality of grass species. These measurements were taken through the fall of 2012
Keywords: Keyword: disturbance Keyword Thesaurus: Core Areas
Keywords: Keyword: plant species Keyword: fires Keyword: canopy cover Keyword: burning Keyword: grasslands Keyword: grasses Keyword: shrubs Keyword Thesaurus: LTER Controlled Vocabulary
Additional Information: Spring 2003 data were measurements done before the 2003 prescribed fire. Data collection is ongoing.
Intellectual Rights: Data Policies This dataset is released to the public and may be freely downloaded. Please keep the designated contact person informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation or collaboration with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset must include proper acknowledgement of the Sevilleta LTER. A copy of any publications using these data must be supplied to the Sevilleta LTER Information Manager.
Distribution: Online: URL: http://sevdeims-d.lternet.edu/data/sev-148
Coverage: Geographic Goverage: Geographic Description: McKenzie Flats is located within the northeastern section of the Sevilleta NWR, encompassing an area from Black Butte south to Palo Duro Canyon and east to the Los Pinos. Bounding Coordinates: West Bounding Coordinates: -106.691 East Bounding Coordinates: -106.691 North Bounding Coordinates: 34.3592 South Bounding Coordinates: 34.3592 Bounding Altitude: Altitude Minimum: 1615 Altitude Maximum: 1615 Altitude Units: meter Temporal Coverage: Date Range: Begin Date: Calendar Date: 2003-06-09 End Date: Calendar Date: 2012-10-23
Purpose:
To study the effects of fire on the vegetation at the boundary between shrubland and grassland.
Maintenance Information: Description: 2003 through 2008 data files were merged into one file. Then, they were checked for obvious errors. 20 January 2009. TLK checked and corrected 2009 data for obvious errors, appended data to Navicat table. 12 January 2010 tlk Â
Contact: Position Title: Information Manager Organization: LTER Network Office Physical Address: Delivery Address: UNM Biology Department, MSC03-2020 Delivery Address: 1 University of New Mexico City: Albuquerque Locality: NM Postal Code: 87131-0001 Phone: USA Phone: 505 277-2535 Phone: 505 277-2541 Email: tech-support@lternet.edu URL: http://www.lternet.edu
Contact: Individual: Information Manager Sevilleta LTER Physical Address: Delivery Address: 1 University of New Mexico City: Albuquerque Postal Code: 87131 Phone: US Phone: (505) 277-2109 Phone: (505) 277.5355 Email: data-use@sevilleta.unm.edu
Publisher: Organization: Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project URL: http://sev.lternet.edu
Publication Place:	Sevilleta LTER
Method Step: Description: Sampling: Within each 300 m x 300 m plot, 3 m x 4 m quadrats were marked off with rebar for use in a previous burn experiment. Each of these quadrats also had a piece of rebar on the southern edge of the quadrat with a numbered tag. Six of these quadrats were randomly selected in each plot. Measurements were made using a niner quadrat frame. These frames are PVC squares that are 30 cm x 30 cm and are divided off into 10 cm x 10 cm squares with string. This gives nine 1-decimeter squares within the "niner". The niner was placed over a corner rebar and aligned with the edge of the larger 3 m x 4 m quadrat. Counts were then made of the number of decimeters in which each species of grass was rooted. Values can be 0 to 9. The designation for the 4 niners in each quadrat was A through D starting with A in the SW corner, moving clockwise to D in the SE corner. Note: For the fall collection in 2003 it was virtually impossible to identify the species of grass that had regrown following the fire. It was decided to just give a count of decimeters with live grass rooted in them and identify them as "GRASS".  With the fall moisture of 2003 there was a flush of annuals and it was decided to enumerate these with counts of any "forbs" rooted in decimeters of each quadrat.  This methodology was not repeated in subsequent years. Also, Quad 3084 was not recorded in the 2003 season 2 and any years following 2005. For Quad 3141, data were not measured for years following 2006. This was done to balance the dataset; each "pre" plot has six quadrats rather than some having seven. Specific location:  Data were collected from 16 (300 m x 300 m) plots designated as the "Burn Antelope Exclosure" plots. These plots are located on the southern end of Mckenzie Flats. The plots are laid out in a 4 by 4 square with 300 m buffer between each plot. The plots are enclosed within a 440 ha box. The bounding coordinates of this large box are:                Latitude Longitude NW corner 34.3138 106.6926 NE corner 34.3202 106.6711 SE corner 34.3024 106.6634 SW corner 34.2960 106.2960 This large expanse has a variable mix of grass species. The 2 dominant species are black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda) and blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). There are also sizeable patches of mule grass (Scleropogon brevifolius). A mixture of the dropseed species are present as well. These include Sporobolus cryptandrus, Sporobolus contractus, Sporobolus flexuosus and Sporobolus airoides. Galleta grass (Pleuraphis jamesii) and a couple of Muhlenbergia species are also present. Into this grass matrix are mixed several shrubs and subshrubs. The most noticeable shrub is creosote bush (Larrea tridentata). Other common non-grasses include Yucca glauca, Ephedra torreyana and Gutierrezia sarothrae.
Quality Control: Description: Data were recorded on paper datasheets. Then this data were entered into an excel worksheet and assessed for errors. Data are stored in Navicat table niners_grass in directory burnx. In 2009, started distinguishing between field comments and QAQC comments. An '*' designates a QAQC comment. SAS program is used to check for duplicates and that all data points have been recorded and entered.
Data Table: Entity Name: sev148_burnxgrass_12112013.txt Object Name: sev148_burnxgrass_12112013_0.txt Size: 287447 Data Format: Text Format: Number of Header Lines: 1 Record Delimiter: \r\n Attribute Orientation: column Simple Delimited: Field Delimiter: , Distribution: Online: URL: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/knb-lter-sev/148/131885/c1a86b1a895217ee3ba42ca8fd9015f1 Coverage: Temporal Coverage: Date Range: Begin Date: Calendar Date: 2003-12-09 End Date: Calendar Date: 2013-11-19 Attribute List: Attribute Name: Date Attribute Label: Date Attribute Definition: Date when data were taken Storage Type: date Measurement Scale: Datetime: Format String: DD/MM/YYYY Attribute Name: Year Attribute Label: Year Attribute Definition: The year in which the data were collected. Storage Type: date Measurement Scale: Datetime: Format String: YYYY Attribute Name: Season Attribute Label: Seas Attribute Definition: Season when data were taken Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: 2 Definition: Spring Code Definition: Code: 3 Definition: Fall Attribute Name: Line Attribute Label: Line Attribute Definition: Line of plots where data were taken Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: 3 Definition: Line of plots furthest from the road: these plots were given a prescribed fire in 2003 Code Definition: Code: 4 Definition: Line of plots furthest from the road: these plots were given a prescribed fire in 2003 Code Definition: Code: 1 Definition: Line of plots closest to the road: these plots were not burned in 2003 Code Definition: Code: 2 Definition: Line of plots closest to the road: these plots were not burned in 2003 Attribute Name: Pre-treatment Attribute Label: Pre Attribute Definition: Treatment of previous experiment Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: C-O Definition: Control open Code Definition: Code: B-O Definition: Burned open Code Definition: Code: C-F Definition: Control fenced Code Definition: Code: B-F Definition: Burned fenced Attribute Name: Quadrat Attribute Label: Quad Attribute Definition: Quadrat that data were recorded from. Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Text Domain: Definition: Quadrat that data were recorded from. Attribute Name: Corner Attribute Label: Corner Attribute Definition: Corner of quadrat Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: A Definition: Southwest corner Code Definition: Code: B Definition: Northwest corner Code Definition: Code: C Definition: Northeast corner Code Definition: Code: D Definition: Southeast corner Attribute Name: Species Attribute Label: Species Attribute Definition: Kartez code for species being sampled based on the USDA plants data base. Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: LATR2 Definition: Larrea tridentata Code Definition: Code: NONE Definition: No plants were encountered on these plots Code Definition: Code: Annual Definition: Only could identify to annual Code Definition: Code: Grass Definition: Grass species that could not be identified to genus or species level Code Definition: Code: Forb Definition: Forb plant species that could not be identified to genus or species Code Definition: Code: UK1 Definition: unknown plant species Code Definition: Code: UK2 Definition: Unknown plant species Code Definition: Code: UKGR Definition: unknown plant species Code Definition: Code: SPORO Definition: Unknown Sporobolus species Code Definition: Code: JUMO Definition: Juniperus monosperma Code Definition: Code: PIED Definition: Pinus edulis Code Definition: Code: QUTU2 Definition: Quercus turbinella Attribute Name: Count Attribute Label: Count Attribute Definition: Number of decimeters occupied by a species Measurement Scale: Ratio: Unit: Standard Unit: number Precision: 1 Numeric Domain: Number Type: real Bounds: Minimum: 0 Maximum: 9 Missing Value Code: Code: -999 Code Explanation: missing data code Attribute Name: Burn status Attribute Label: Sta Attribute Definition: Condition of area following the prescribed fire Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: U Definition: unburned Code Definition: Code: B Definition: burned Code Definition: Code: na Definition: not applicable, measurements taken before burn Code Definition: Code: NS Definition: not sure Attribute Name: Comments Attribute Label: Comment Attribute Definition: Any relevant comments during data collecting or QA/QC Storage Type: string Measurement Scale: Nominal: Non Numeric Domain: Enumerated Domain: Code Definition: Code: NA Definition: no comment Code Definition: Code: * Definition: an asterisk designates that a comment is QA/QC comment, this was initiated in 2009