Effects of microarthropod exclusion and water amendments on fluffgrass tissue nitrogen at the Jornada Basin LTER site in 1986

This data package contains fluff grass (Dasyochloa pulchella) tissue nitrogen data from plants collected at the Jornada Basin LTER site in southern New Mexico, USA, in 1987. The purpose of this study was to test how watering, and changing densities of soil microarthropods and nematodes, results in changes in fluff grass growth and nitrogen acquisition. Twenty 6 x 6 m plots were established with a 3 m buffer between plots. Five plots were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: 1) Chlordane to exclude microarthropods, 2) Chlordane and water, 3) Water, and 4) Control. For four consecutive months, randomly selected fluff grass plants were collected from each plot and the flowers, green leaves, and grey leaves were separated for total nitrogen digestion analysis and dry weight measurement. This data set consists of sampling date, treatment, plant matter, total nitrogen (mg/g) and dry weight (g). Data was collected in 1987 and the study is complete.