Seasonal productivity and water use in herbaceous salt marsh plants on the South Texas Gulf Coast

This dataset contains seasonal and diurnal ecophysiological and environmental measurements for five species of herbaceous salt marsh plants: Borrichia frutescens, Salicornia virginica, Batis maritima, Monanthochloe littoralis, and Limonium nashii. Data was collected repeatedly across multiple seasons from 2024-2025 at a single coastal salt marsh site (Coyote Island, Port Aransas, Texas). Individual plants and environmental data were sampled at multiple time points throughout sampling days (approx. 05:00 am-05:00 pm) to capture finer-scale diurnal patterns. The following measurements are included in this dataset:

Net CO2 assimilation (A), transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (gs), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), external air temperature (Tair), external relative humidity (RH), leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPD), maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), quantum yield of PSII (ΦPSII): obtained via LI-6800 Portable Photosynthesis and Fluorescence System (LiCor)

Leaf/stem water potential (Ψ): obtained via Model 1505D Pressure Chamber (PMS Instruments, Inc.)

Soil moisture (SM): obtained gravimetrically from 10 cm soil cores

Soil porewater salinity (PW sal): obtained via centrifugation of 10 cm soil cores and measured using a refractometer

Tidal creek salinity (sal): obtained in the field using a refractometer

All data is in raw, unsummarized form, with the exception of raw data ouputs obtained using the LI-6800 Portable Photosynthesis System which were reformatted for analysis purposes.