Date
2012
Abstract
Precipitation is recognized as the most spatially variable abiotic variable in arid ecosystems such as the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Water is also usually the limiting factor in such environments so the accurate measurement of precipitation in both space and time is vital to understanding ecosystem dynamics. In 2008, the acquisition of a number of tipping-bucket rain gauges with Hobo dataloggers permitted the deployment of gauges into an increased number of locations on the Sevilleta NWR. Most dataloggers were installed in the greater Five Points area and primarily placed around the site of the 2003 burn study. A few additional dataloggers were installed throughout the entire Sevilleta NWR to expand overall coverage.
Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/1928/29970.1
Other Identifier
SEV234
Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Identifier
knb-lter-sev.234.147153
Document Type
Dataset
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. Datasets must be cited as in the example provided. A copy of any publications using these data must be supplied to the Sevilleta LTER Information Manager. By downloading any data you implicitly acknowledge the LTER Data Policy (http://www.lternet.edu/data/netpolicy.html).
Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d8e947db03be2fca72f959d6c4b942a6
Temporal coverage
2008-05-22 - 2011-12-31
Spatial coverage
Location: A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340909) have been installed at this location, which is within McKenzie Flats, to continuously measure rainfall.Landform: McKenzie Flats is a broad, nearly flat grassland plain between the Los Pinos Mountains and the east side of the Rio Grande., Geology: Deep (20,000 ft) alluvial and aeolian deposits., Soils: Turney Series: Fine-loamy, mixed, thermic Typic Calciorthids. Berino Series: fine-loamy, mixed, thermic Typic Haplargids., Hydrology: Surface water only during rain events, no arroyos., Vegetation: Generally mixed-species desert grassland, dominated by black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda), blue grama (B. gracilis), sand muhly (Muhlenbergia arenicola), various drop seeds and sacatons (Sporobolus spp.), purple three-awn (Aristida purpurea), and burrow grass (Scleropogon brevifolia). Shrubs are common, including creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) and snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)., Climate: Long-term mean annual precipitation is 243 mm, about 60% of which occurs during the summer. Long-term mean monthly temperatures for January and July are 1.5°C and 25.1°C, respectively., History: McKenzie Flats encompasses an area of approximately 50 square miles. McKenzie Flats was one of the primary livestock grazing areas of the Sevilleta NWR. Cattle have been excluded from the site since 1973., Location: Five Points Shrub or Creosote Core (aka Five Points Larrea) is on the transition between Chihuahuan Desert Scrub and Desert Grassland habitat. The site is subject to intensive research activity, including assessments of net primary productivity, phenology, pollinator diversity, and ground dwelling arthropod and rodent populations. Drought rain-out shelters and sampling plots related to patch mapping and biotic transitions are also located within the site. A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340911) have been installed at this location to continuously measure rainfall.Vegetation: Five Points Shrub is characterized as Chihuahuan Desert Scrub, dominated by a creosotebush overstory with broom snakeweed, purple pricklypear (Opuntia macrocentra) and soapweed yucca as associated shrubs. The site is also characterized by numerous, dense grass-dominated patches, reflecting its proximity to the Black Grama Core site and the relatively recent expansion of creosotebush. Dominant grasses are black grama, fluffgrass (Dasyochloa pulchellum), burrograss (Scleropogon brevifolia), bushmuhly (M. porteri), and galleta (Pleuraphis jamesii). Notable forbs include field bahia (Bahia absinthifolia), baby aster (Chaetopappa ericoides), plains hiddenflower, Indian rushpea (Hoffmannseggia glauca), Fendlers bladderpod (Lesquerella fendleri), and globemallow., Location: The Mixed Shrub (MS) site is on the north side of the road that extends southeast from Five Points. A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340912) have been installed at this location to continuously measure rainfall.Vegetation: Dominated by creosotebush (Larrea tridenta) but with a relatively dense understory of black grama in comparison to other shrubland., History: The northwestern half of the site was burned in June 2003 and the southeastern half used as a control. Plots were established in spring 2004., Location: A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340913) have been installed at this location to continuously measure rainfall.Location: Near the southwestern border of Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340918) have been installed at this location to continuously measure rainfall.Landform: Mesa, Vegetation: Pinon-juniper woodland., Climate: Precipitation measurements indicate non-monsoon average rainfall of 117 mm/yr and monsoon average rainfall of 162 mm/yr for 1996-2004., Location: A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340920) have been installed at this location, on the southern end of the Sevilleta NWR, to continuously measure rainfall.Location: A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340922) have been installed at this location to continuously measure rainfall.Vegetation: Mixed grass comprised of blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), black grama (B. eriopoda), galleta grass (Pleuraphis jamesii), dropseed (Sporobolus spp.), and burro grass (Scleropogon brevifolius)., History: The site was burned in 2003 during a prescribed fire conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service., Location: The Five Points Grassland (FPG) is on the transition between Chihuahuan Desert Scrub and Desert Grassland habitat. The site is subject to intensive research activity, including assessments of net primary productivity, phenology, pollinator diversity and small mammall populations. A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge and Hobo datalogger (#340923) have been installed at this location to continuously measure rainfall.Vegetation: Five Points Grassland is ecotonal and borders Chihuahuan Desert Scrub at its southern edge and Plains-Mesa Grassland at its northern, more mesic boundary. Characteristically, the dominant grass is black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda)., Location: Five Points is the area which encompasses the Five Points Black Grama and Five Points Creosote Core study sites and falls along the transition between Chihuahuan Desert Scrub and Desert Grassland habitats. Both sites are subject to intensive research activity, including NPP measurement, phenology observation, pollinator diversity studies, and ground dwelling arthropod and rodent population assessments. There are drought rain-out shelters in both the Black Grama and Creosote sites, as well as the mixed-ecotone, with co-located ET Towers.Vegetation: The Five Points Creosote site is characterized as Chihuahuan Desert Scrub, dominated by a creosotebush overstory with broom snakeweed, purple pricklypear (O. macrocentra) and soapweed yucca as notable shrubs. The site is also characterized by numerous dense grass dominated patches, reflecting proximity to the Five Points Black Grama site and the relatively recent appearance of creosotebush. Dominant grasses are black grama, fluffgrass (Dasyochloa pulchellum), burrograss (Scleropogon brevifolia), bush muhly (M. porteri), and galleta (Pleuraphis jamesii). Notable forb species include field bahia (Bahia absinthifolia), baby aster (Chaetopappa ericoides), plains hiddenflower (Cryptantha crassisepala), Indian rushpea (Hoffmannseggia glauca), Fendlers bladderpod (Lesquerella fendleri), and globemallow (Sphaeralcea spp.). Five Points Black Grama habitat is ecotonal in nature, bordering Chihuahuan Desert Scrub at its southern extent and Plains-Mesa Grassland at its northern, more mesic boundary. There is also a significant presence of shrubs, particularly broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), along with less abundant fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), Mormon tea (Ephedra torreyana), winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), tree cholla (Opuntia imbricata), club cholla (O. clavata), desert pricklypear (O. phaeacantha), soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca), and what are presumed to be encroaching, yet sparsely distributed, creosotebush (Larrea tridentata). Characteristically, the dominant grass is black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda). Spike, sand, and mesa dropseed grasses (Sporobolus contractus, S. cryptandrus, S. flexuosus) and sand muhly (Muhlenbergia arenicola) could be considered co-dominant throughout, along with blue grama (B. gracilis) in a more mesic, shallow swale on the site. Notable forb species include trailing four o’clock (Allionia incarnata), horn loco milkvetch (Astragalus missouriensis), sawtooth spurge (Chamaesyce serrula), plains hiddenflower (Cryptantha crassisepala), blunt tansymustard (Descarania obtusa), wooly plaintain (Plantago patagonica), globemallow (Sphaeralcea wrightii), and mouse ear (Tidestromia lanuginosa)., siteid: 2
DOI
doi:10.6073/pasta/d8e947db03be2fca72f959d6c4b942a6
Permanent URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d8e947db03be2fca72f959d6c4b942a6
Recommended Citation
Moore, Douglas I. (2012): Hobo Datalogger-Derived Precipitation Data from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2008- ). Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d8e947db03be2fca72f959d6c4b942a6
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knb-lter-sev.234.147153-provenance.xml (3 kB)
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sev234_hobo_02072013.txt (864 kB)
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Comments
This dataset was originally published on the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Data Portal, https://portal.lternet.edu, and potentially via other repositories or portals as described. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source data package is doi:10.6073/pasta/d8e947db03be2fca72f959d6c4b942a6, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d8e947db03be2fca72f959d6c4b942a6. Metadata and files included in this record mirror as closely as possible the source data and documentation, with the provenance metadata and quality report generated by the LTER portal reproduced here as '*-provenance.xml' and *-report.html' files, respectively.