Authors

David Lightfoot

Date

2010

Abstract

Animal consumers have important roles in ecosystems, determining plant species composition and structure, regulating rates of plant production and nutrients, and altering soil structure and chemistry. This is data for numbers and species of seed harvester ant nests mapped from each of the SMES study plots. Seed harvester ant nests were mapped on each of the study plots once each year in the autumn. Ant nest maps were drawn on to pre-designed plot diagrams. Each nest was located on the diagram in reference to one of the 36 vegetation quadrat marker posts. The distance from the post, direction from the post, and species name were plotted on the map diagram. Data such as total numbers of nests of each ant species, and spatial arrangement of nests, were then taken from the diagram maps. The following question was asked: Do small mammals interact with other herbivore and granivore consumers enough to affect the species composition and abundances of other consumers such as ants?

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/1928/29837.1

Other Identifier

SEV88

Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Identifier

knb-lter-sev.88.122261

Document Type

Dataset

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/61d2d8334eb9266b4f0b46fa3c0e8ee5, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/61d2d8334eb9266b4f0b46fa3c0e8ee5. 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.

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/61d2d8334eb9266b4f0b46fa3c0e8ee5

Temporal coverage

1995-10-04 - 2005-09-24

Spatial coverage

Location: Five Points Black Grama 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, and pollinator diversity, amongst other projects. It is the site of the unburned black grama (GU) component of the Burn NPP study. On August 4, 2009, a lightning-initiated fire began on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. By August 5, 2009, the fire had reached the Five Points Black Grama site. Portions of this site were burned, but not the entirety. See individual projects for further information on the effects of the burn. Vegetation: The Five Points Black Grama site is ecotonal in nature, bordering Chihuahuan Desert Scrub at its southern extent and Plains-Mesa Grassland at its northern, more mesic boundary. Characteristically, the dominant grass is black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda)., Location: The Rio Salado is an ephemeral tributary of the Rio Grande on the west side of the Sevilleta NWR, flowing west by northwest to east by southeast. Rio Salado Grassland and Rio Salado Larrea are two study sites established in 1989. These sites were established as counterparts to sites at Five Points. Between 1989 and 1998, vegetation, litter decomposition, and ground dwelling arthropod and rodent populations were studied at both sites. Core studies at these sites were largely terminated in 1998, although rodent populations are still monitored at the Rio Salado Larrea site because the Small Mammal Exclosure Study's Larrea plots are co-located there. Rio Salado Grassland is the location Met Station 44.The Rio Salado study sites are accessed by taking the San Acacia exit, going west and then taking the frontage road back north to the Sevilleta NWR gate. After entering the refuge turn left after 0.2 mi and take this road 1.4 mi to a "T" in the road at the power lines. An earthen berm stops road travel here and the met station is located about 300 m west on the blocked road. Vegetation: The Rio Salado Larrea site is characterized as Chihuahuan Desert Scrub, dominated by creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), with honey mesquite, fourwing saltbush, purple pricklypear (O. macrocentra), and broom snakeweed as co-occurring shrubs. Dominant grasses are black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda), galleta (Pleuraphis jamesii), burrograss (Scleropogon brevifolia), and fluffgrass (Dasyochloa pulchellum). Common forb species include desert holly (Acourtia nana), spectaclepod (Dimorphocarpa spp.), blackfoot daisey (Melampodium leucanthum), twinleaf (Senna bauhinoides), globemallow (Sphaeralcea wrightii), and plains hiddenflower (Cryptantha crassisepala). While individual creosote bushes tend to be larger, overall plant cover is less than at the creosote core site at Five Points, with more exposed embedded stones and gravel on the soil surface, creating a pavement-like appearance.

DOI

doi:10.6073/pasta/61d2d8334eb9266b4f0b46fa3c0e8ee5

Permanent URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/61d2d8334eb9266b4f0b46fa3c0e8ee5

Additional Files
knb-lter-sev.88.122261-metadata.html (85 kB)
Show full metadata
knb-lter-sev.88.122261-provenance.xml (3 kB)
Show provenance metadata
knb-lter-sev.88.122261-report.html (25 kB)
Show original LTER Network Data Portal ingest report
sev088_smesant_04102009.txt (12 kB)
Data in TXT format
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