SGS-LTER Spatial variability in seed production of the perennial bunchgrass Bouteloua gracilis on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1992-2005, ARS Study Number 20

This data package was produced by researchers
working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term
Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project,
administered at Colorado State University.
Long-term datasets and background information
(proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the
SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive
project collection within the Digital Collections
of Colorado
(http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429).
The data table and associated metadata document,
which is generated in Ecological Metadata
Language, may be available through other
repositories serving the ecological research
community and represent components of the larger
SGS-LTER project collection. Production of seeds of Bouteloua gracilis was
evaluated for a semiarid grassland in northeastern
Colorado. Ten locations were chosed to represent
the range in soil textures and grazing intensities
found at the Central Plains Experiemental Range
research site. Number of flowering culms,
inforescences and seeds, length of each flowering
clum, total biomass or reproductive structures
(culms, inforescences and seeds), and basal areas
were assessed for each plant sampled.
Community-level estimates of density of flowering
culms and density of viable seeds are made for
each location. Both soil texture and grazing
intensity by cattle are important to spatial
variability in seed production and other
indicators of reproductive effort by B.
gracilis. Additional information and referenced
materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/82281

本数据集由科罗拉多州立大学管理的短草草原长期生态研究（Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research, SGS-LTER）项目的研究人员编制。该SGS-LTER项目的长期数据集及背景资料（包括研究方案、报告、影像资料等），均收录于科罗拉多数字馆藏（Digital Collections of Colorado）的综合项目馆藏中，访问链接为：http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429。本数据集包含的数据表及配套的生态元数据语言（Ecological Metadata Language, EML）格式元数据文档，亦可通过服务于生态研究共同体的其他仓储平台获取，它们均属于SGS-LTER大型项目馆藏的组成部分。本研究针对科罗拉多州东北部的半干旱草原，评估了格兰马草（Bouteloua gracilis）的种子生产表现。研究选取10个样地，以表征中央平原实验牧场（Central Plains Experimental Range）研究区域内不同土壤质地与放牧强度的梯度特征。针对每个采样植株，研究人员统计了其开花茎秆、花序及种子的数量，测量了单根开花茎秆的长度，记录了生殖结构（茎秆、花序与种子）的总生物量，并测定了其基株面积。针对每个样地，研究还估算了群落水平的开花茎秆密度与存活种子密度。牛群放牧强度与土壤质地均是影响格兰马草种子生产及其他生殖投入指标空间异质性的关键因素。更多相关信息与参考资料可通过以下链接获取：http://hdl.handle.net/10217/82281