Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023)
Dates
Publication Date
2022-03-21
Start Date
1965-06-18
End Date
2021-12-31
Revision
2023-09-07
Citation
Finger-Higgens, R., Geiger, E.L., Duniway, M.C., and Belnap, J., 2023, Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9MA0LZG.
Summary
These tabular data were compiled for/to monitor vegetation and biocrust cover in a never grazed grassland located in Canyonlands National Park. An objective, or objectives, of our study was to document potential changes in biocrust and vegetation cover and species composition as related to changes in land use and climate change. These data represent a timeseries of long-term vegetation and biocrust monitoring plots, dating from 1996 to 2021. These data were collected at/in Virginia Park, Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Research Center in coordination with the US National Park Service. Data were collected via field observations twice annually, [...]
Summary
These tabular data were compiled for/to monitor vegetation and biocrust cover in a never grazed grassland located in Canyonlands National Park. An objective, or objectives, of our study was to document potential changes in biocrust and vegetation cover and species composition as related to changes in land use and climate change. These data represent a timeseries of long-term vegetation and biocrust monitoring plots, dating from 1996 to 2021. These data were collected at/in Virginia Park, Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Research Center in coordination with the US National Park Service. Data were collected via field observations twice annually, once in the Spring (April-May) and once in fall (Sept.) starting in 1996. A weather station was established in 1998 which recorded hourly temperature and precipitation measurements on a portable data storage module which was switched out and downloaded approximately every 3 months. These data can be used to monitor long term trends and changes in vegetation in a rare, protected and never grazed grassland on the Colorado Plateau, and help with monitoring trends in similar dryland ecosystems.
Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.
Biocrust_Vegetation_Climate_Metadata_1965-2021.xml Original FGDC Metadata
View
52.55 KB
application/fgdc+xml
Biocrust_Data_1996-2021.csv
7.98 MB
text/csv
Biocrust_Variables_1996-2021.csv
2.27 KB
text/csv
Sampling_Dates_1996-2021.csv
3.91 KB
text/csv
Vegetation_Data_1998-2021.csv
2.15 MB
text/csv
Vegetation_Variables_1998-2021.csv
4.32 KB
text/csv
Weather_Station_Data_1965_2021.csv
920.26 KB
text/csv
Version History 2.0.txt
2.92 KB
text/plain
Credit-Rebecca Finger-Higgins, USGS.jpg “Repeat photos of biocrusts from the same area in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019”
381.15 KB
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Related External Resources
Type: Publication that references this resource
Duniway, M.C., Finger-Higgens, R., Geiger, E.L., Hoover, D.L., Pfennigwerth, A.A., Knight, A.C., Van Scoyoc, M., Miller, M., and Belnap, J., 2023, Ecosystem resilience to invasion and drought: Insights after 24 years in a rare never-grazed grassland: Global Change Biology (online), https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16882.
Finger-Higgens, R., Duniway, M.C., Fick, S., and Belnap, J., 2022, Decline in biological soil crust N-fixing lichens linked to increasing summertime temperatures: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 119, no. 16, e2120975119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120975119.
The purpose of these data are to monitor potential changes in vegetation and biocrust cover over time in a protected, never grazed grassland within Canyonlands National Park Needles District. Additionally, this data set allows for the comparison of different dominant grass cover types, both with and without invasion from a pervasive non-native grass, Bromus tectorum. These data were collected and created to establish a record and identify long-term trends in changes of biocrust and vegetation. Additionally, because Virginia Park was previously never grazed, these data also provide an important baseline understanding of how ecosystems across the Colorado Plateau might behave without the disturbance of past and present grazing. Future researchers can also use these data to compare rates of change in vegetation or biocrust across other drylands systems, especially within the greater Colorado Plateau region.
Rights
The author(s) of these data request that data users contact them regarding intended use and to assist with understanding limitations and interpretation. Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
Preview Image
Repeat photos of biocrusts from the same area in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019