Plum Island Ecosystems LTER Database

Acceptance and utilization of LTER data requires that:

(1) The Principal Investigator be sent a notice stating reasons for acquiring any data and a description of the publication intentions.
(2) The Principal Investigator of the data set be sent a copy of the report or manuscript prior to submission and be adequately cited in any resultant publications.
(3) A copy of any resultant publications should be sent to:

Principal Investigator
Ecosystems Center
Marine Biological Laboratory
7 MBL St.
Woods Hole, MA 02543

Dataset URLs:	METADATA: HTML, Rich Text, XML(EML compliant) DATA: Comma Delimited, Excel file with Metadata and data
Dataset ID:	LTE-EX-ARGILLA-RM-VEGSTN.02
Dataset Title:	Geographic information regarding vegetation transects set up at the Argilla Rd. Salt marsh restoration site in Ipswich and a reference marsh (Rough Meadows) in Rowley.
Investigator 1:
First Name:	Robert
Last Name:	Buchsbaum
Address line 1:	Massachusetts Audubon, North Shore
Address line 2:	Endicott Regional Center
Address line 3:	356 Grapevine Road
City:	Wenham
State:	MA
Zip Code:	01984
Country:	USA
Investigator 2:
First Name:	John
Last Name:	Catena
Address line 1:	National Marine Fisheries Service
Address line 2:
Address line 3:
City:	Gloucester
State:	MA
Zip Code:
Country:
Investigator 3:
First Name:	Eric
Last Name:	Hutchins
Address line 1:	National Marine Fisheries Service
City:	Gloucester
State:	MA
Associate Investigators:
Keywords:	LTER, PIE, Plum Island Ecosystems, Massachusetts, Phragmites australis, Spartina alterniflora, primary production, disturbance, population dynamics, salt marsh, restoration, tidal restriction, invasive species, salt marsh vegetation
Abstract:	A description of the vegetation transects set up at the Argilla Rd. Salt marsh restoration site in Ipswich and a reference marsh (Rough Meadows) in Rowley.
Contact:	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER Information Manager The Ecosystems Center Marine Biological Lab 7 MBL St Woods Hole, MA 02543 Phone (508) 289 7485 Email: pie_im@mbl.edu Online URL: http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/PIE/
DATA FILE INFORMATION:
Data File URL	http://ecosystems.mbl.edu/PIE/data/LTE/data/LTE-EX-ARGILLA-RM-VEGSTN.dat
Data File Name	LTE-EX-ARGILLA-RM-VEGSTN
Beginning Date	1/1/1995
End Date	1/1/2002
Number of Data Records
Other Files to Reference	LTE-EX-ARGILLA-RM-VEGTRAN.xls, LTE-EX-ARGILLA-RM-VEGQUADS.xls
Availability Status	Type 1
Quality Control Information
Maintenance Description
Log of Changes:	Version 01, July 20, 2007 Level 3+ EML using Jim Laundre's Excel program
	Version 02, 25Jan2010 keywords update

RESEARCH LOCATION:	Site 1	Site 2
Geographic Description	Argilla Rd. salt marsh is located on land owned by the Trustees of Reservations between Castle Hill and Crane Beach. Rough Meadows salt marsh includes marshes located on the north side of Patmos Road in Rowley. Some sections are part of Massachusetts Audubon’s Rough Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary and additional sections are owned by Dan McHugh.
Location Bounding Box
West Bounding Coordinate
East Bounding Coordinate
North Bounding Coordinate
South Bounding Coordinate
OR if single point location
Latitude
Longitude
Elevation


TAXONOMIC COVERAGE:
Taxonomic Protocols
Organisms studied	Phragmites australis; Spartina alterniflora

Methods:	Line intercept method as described in Brower, J., J. Zar, and C. von Ende (1990) Field and Laboratory for General Ecology. Wm. C. Brown. Transects typically start at edge of marsh creek in Spartina sp. and run perpendicular from creek into a zone of Phragmites australis. Lengths of individual transects vary from 25-60 m depending on the shape of the marsh sites. The presence of plants within each one meter interval along the transect line was recorded. Data then converted into % frequency.

Data Table

Variable Name	Variable Description	Units	Measurement Scale	Code Information	Number Type	DateTime Format	Missing Value Code	Missing Value Code Explanation
SITE	Site where data collected		nominal
TRANSECT	Transect number		nominal
TRANSECT LENGTH	Length in meters of the transect	meter	interval		real
YEAR STARTED	Year data first collected on that transect		nominal
CULVERT	Whether the transect is upstream or downstream of a culvert		nominal
LATITUDE CREEK END	LATITUDE AT THE CREEK END OF THE TRANSECT, AS MEASURED BY A GARMAN 12 GPS UNIT, SO ACCURACY GENERALLY TO 3-7 METERS	degree	interval		real
LONGITUDE CREEK END	LONGITUDE AT THE CREEK END OF THE TRANSECT, AS MEASURED BY A GARMAN 12 GPS UNIT, SO ACCURACY GENERALLY TO 3-7 METERS	degree	interval		real
LATITUDE UPLAND END	LATITUDE AT THE UPLAND (FURTHEST FROM THE CREEK) END OF THE TRANSECT, AS MEASURED BY A GARMAN 12 GPS UNIT, SO ACCURACY GENERALLY TO 3-7 METERS	degree	interval		real
LONGITUDE UPLAND END	LONGITUDE AT THE UPLAND (FURTHEST FROM THE CREEK) END OF THE TRANSECT, AS MEASURED BY A GARMAN 12 GPS UNIT, SO ACCURACY GENERALLY TO 3-7 METERS	degree	interval		real
COMMENTS	Comments about data		nominal