LTER Georgia Coastal Ecosystems - Plant community response to fertilization at Sapelo Island, Georgia

Parallel fertilization experiments were performed in five different types of
perennial plant mixtures found in the salt marsh habitat around Sapelo Island,
Georgia, from May 1996 to September 1997. Each mixture differed in plot
elevation, soil water content, and soil salinity, so each was considered a
separate habitat. The mixtures also occurred in different geographic locations
(i.e. Dean Creek on southern Sapelo Island, Marsh Landing on southwestern
Sapelo Island, and Shell Hammock, which is near the University of Georgia
Marine Institute). In May 1996, 16 1mx1m plots were placed within each plant
mixture and alternate plots were assigned to control and fertilization
treatments. Pelletized fertilizer (29% N, 3% P, 4% K) was broadcast into
fertilization treatment plots by hand at the rate of 60g/m^2 every 2 weeks. The
central 0.5mx0.5m of each plot was harvested in September 1997 after two
summers growth. Live plants were sorted to species, dried to a constant mass,
and weighed to measure biomass. Standing dead shoots and litter were not
weighed.

Overall bounding box describing the geographic region within the Georgia
Coastal Ecosystems LTER study domain represented in data set PLT-GCED-0409