Fall 2002 plant monitoring survey -- shoot height and flowering status of plants in permanent plots at GCE sampling sites 1-10

A quadrat survey was conducted in October 2002 to measure the species and size distribution of plants at 10 GCE LTER sampling sites. The quadrats were established as permanent plots at GCE sampling sites in October 2000 by placing wooden stakes at random locations across two nominal zones at each site, designated based on marsh structure (creekbank and high marsh). Several new plots were also added in October 2002 to replace those lost due to catastrophic wrack disturbance or creek bank erosion. The plots were visually surveyed and the species, shoot height, and flowering status was recorded individually for each shoot over 10 cm in height present in each plot. Observations from plots exhibiting signs of disturbance were noted in the data set. This survey will be repeated annually to assess changes in plant distribution and biomass in relation to environmental changes documented by other GCE LTER monitoring efforts.

2002年10月开展了一项样方（quadrat）调查，旨在测定10个GCE LTER采样点的植物物种组成与大小分布。该批样方于2000年10月在GCE各采样点设立为永久性样地，具体方式为在每个站点依据湿地结构划定的两个典型区域（河岸带与高潮滩）内的随机点位布设木桩。2002年10月，研究人员还新增了若干样地，以替代因灾难性海藻堆干扰或河岸侵蚀而损毁的原有样地。研究人员对所有样地开展目视调查，针对样地内每株高度超过10厘米的地上枝条，逐一记录其物种、茎高及开花状态。数据集同步记录了存在干扰迹象的样地的观测数据。本项调查将按年度重复开展，以结合其他GCE LTER监测项目所记录的环境变化，评估植物分布与生物量的动态变化。