Tipularia discolor plant demography 1999-2004

H. Ron Pulliam (University of Georgia Emeritus) established 17 plant demography grids (each between 250 and 480 m2 in size) divided into 2 x 2 m cells in 1999 at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (35.060037,-83.43044) in Macon County, N.C, Chattahoochee National Forest in Habersham County (34.51271,-83.47465) and Whitehall Forest in Athens-Clarke County, GA (33.884774,-83.357527). Grids 1-6 located at Coweeta were 20 x 24 m; grids 7-10 located at Chattahoochee were 20 x 24 m, except grid 10 was 10 x 24; grids 11-17 located at Whitehall were 20 x 24 m, except grids 12 and 13 were 10 x 12 m, grid 16 was 20 x 20 m and grid 17 was 12 x 24. Individuals of six plant species occurring in each grid were flagged and monitored in for eight years, 1999-2006, along with soil moisture and temperature (presented in a separate data set). All grids were located in the understory shade environment of deciduous forests in mid- to mature stages of succession (60+ years of growth). Each plant was visited at least twice annually to assess survival, growth, reproduction and fecundity. Survival was based on the presence or absence of a plant as identified by its flagged identification number (per grid and individual). For absent plants, mortality was distinguished from dormancy by leaving flag markers in place and recording the subsequent return of an adult plant to the same location. Growth was based on leaf size. Reproduction was based on the presence of reproductive structures, flowers or fruit, and fecundity was based on the appearance of local seedlings. As dormancy is not uncommon in understory plants, flags were not removed due to the absence of a previously measured plant which allowed for the assessment of dormancy rates upon its potential return. The data contained herein are for Anemone americana (previously Hepatica nobilis), which only occurred in grid cells located at Whitehall.