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-MP-ORT-biomass.04
Dataset Title:Aboveground biomass of Typha sp. at Upper Parker River brackish marsh site.
Investigator 1: 
First Name:Jim
Last Name:Morris
Address line 1:Dept of Biological Sciences
Address line 2:
Address line 3:University of SC
City:Columbia
State:SC
Zip Code:29208
Country:USA
Investigator 2: 
First Name:Karen
Last Name:Sundberg
Address line 1:Baruch Marine Field Laboratory
Address line 3:PO Box 1630
City:Georgetown
State:SC
Zip Code:29442
Country:USA
Associate Investigators:Robert Daoust, Helen Marshall, Diana Rodriguez
Keywords:LTER, PIE Plum Island Ecosystems, Massachusetts, Parker River, primary production, nutrients, aboveground biomass, brackish marsh, nutrient cycling, Typha, cattails
Abstract:Aboveground biomass is determined non-destructively during the growing season at a Typha-dominated brackish marsh on the Parker River within the Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER site.
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-MP-ORT-biomass.dat
Data File Name LTE-MP-ORT-biomass
Beginning Date 5/26/2002
End Date 8/31/2008
Number of Data Records 444
Other Files to Reference
Availability Status type 1
Quality Control Information
Maintenance Description Collections occur every month from May through October. Database is updated once annually, usually in the winter. Study and data collection are ongoing as of Jan 2009.
Log of Changes: Version 01: July 11, 2006 Level 3+ EML using Jim Laundre's Excel program
Version 02: January 10, 2007 data and metadata update
Version 03: March 12, 2008 Data and metadata update
Version 04: February 20, 2009 Data and metadata update
 
RESEARCH LOCATION: Site 1 Site 2
Geographic Description LTE-MP-ORT, Parker River Orchard St., Typha fertilization site  
Location Bounding Box    
West Bounding Coordinate    
East Bounding Coordinate    
North Bounding Coordinate    
South Bounding Coordinate    
OR if single point location    
Latitude 42.756738  
Longitude -70.917717  
Elevation    
     
     
 
TAXONOMIC COVERAGE:
Taxonomic Protocols
Organisms studied Typha sp.
 
Methods:General:
This data set is part of a study including three on-going plot-level fertilization sites. The first (LTE-MP-LPA) is in the low marsh at Law's Point along the Rowley River. The second (LTE-MP-LPP) is in the high marsh at Law's Point along the Rowley River. The third (LTE-MP-ORT) is in a brackish water marsh on an upstream tributary of the Parker River. Biomass sampling is slightly different at each site, and is accomplished non-destructively at the LTE-MP-LPA and LTE-MP-ORT sites, and destructively at theLTE-MP-LPP site. Biomass sampling at LTE-MP-ORT was discontinued after August 2008.

Sampling Description:
Each experimental site has triplicate 1-m2 plots that are fertilized with N (7.5 mol N/m2/y), P (3.75 mol P/m2/y ), both N and P, or neither N nor P (controls). Fertlization occurs during the growing season only. At LTE-MP-ORT, there are two randomly placed 32cmx32cm subplots are placed per plot for sampling each month. The diameter of the culm at the base of the plant and the number of leaves on each Typha plant within each sub-plot is recorded each month. Starting in 2004, only the C and P plots were censused.

Data processing:
Plant measurements are entered into an EXCEL database, then transformed to biomass using allometric equations (after Daoust, R.J. and D.L. Childers. 1998. Aquatic Botany 62:115-133.).

Data Table

Variable Name Variable Description Units Measurement Scale Code Information Number Type DateTime Format Missing Value Code Missing Value Code Explanation
SITE current name of sampling station, following naming protocol   nominal          
YEAR year   datetime     yyyy    
MONTH month   datetime     mm    
TRT treatment   nominal N=fertlized with nitrogen only | P= fertilized with phosphorus only | NP=fertilized with nitrogen and phosphorus | C=control (not fertilized)        
PLOT plot   nominal          
SUBPLOT subplot   nominal          
BIOMASS Typha biomass (dry weight) gramsPerSquareMeter ratio   real   . .=not sampled
COMMENTS Information pertaining to individual data points   nominal