Monsoon Rainfall Manipulation Experiment (MRME): Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Begun in fall 2006, this long-term study at the Sevilleta LTER examines changes in net primary production (NPP) caused by increased precipitation variability within a semiarid grassland. Net primary production is a fundamental ecological variable that quantifies rates of carbon consumption and fixation. Estimates of NPP are important in understanding energy flow at a community level as well as spatial and temporal responses to a range of ecological processes. While measures of both below- and above-ground biomass are important in estimating total NPP, this study focuses on above-ground net primary production (ANPP). Above-ground net primary production is the change in plant biomass, including loss to death and decomposition, over a given period of time. Volumetric measurements are made using vegetation data from permanent plots (SEV188, "Monsoon Rainfall Manipulation Experiment (MRME): Net Primary Production Quadrat Data") and regressions correlating species biomass and volume constructed using seasonal harvest weights from SEV157, "Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight Data."