Precipitation, soil moisture, and vegetation data from 36 experimental plots in southeastern Utah, near Canyonlands National Park (2015 - 2018)

Publication Date

2021-04-26

Start Date

2015

End Date

2018

Hoover, D.L., and Duniway, M.C., 2021, Precipitation, soil moisture, and vegetation data from 36 experimental plots in southeastern Utah, near Canyonlands National Park (2015 - 2018): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9I9FXH9.

Type: Related Primary Publication

The purpose of these data are to quantify how an experimental seasonal drought impacts soil moisture and two perennial grass species (Achnatherum hymenoides [C3 photosynthesis], and Pleuraphis jamesii [C4 photosynthesis]). The dataset includes data on when treatments were imposed, ambient precipitation, soil moisture measured at two depths, greenness of tagged plants by date measured every two weeks, and plant biomass measured in the spring and fall. The treatment dates and ambient precipitation data can be used to estimate the precipitation received by each plot (with or without 66% removed). The soil moisture data can be used to evaluate the impact of the treatments on soil water available to plants. The plant greenness is done using occur estimates and estimate the percent of the target plants that are green, with the expectation that the droughts will reduce the amount of green and length of time grasses are green (growing season). Standing grass biomass is done through allometric relationships based on a combination of point-frame green hits, leaf lengths, and leaf numbers, combined with double sampling. The biomass data provide an estimate of how treatments are impacting overall grass species productivity. While these data are specific to the experimental treatments imposed and the period over which the study occurred, these data could be used by future researchers in combination with other drought experiments and investigations.

• USGS Data Release Products
• USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC)