Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems (EDGE) Seasonal Biomass and Seasonal and Annual NPP Data at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

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
collected in SEV297, "Extreme Drought in Grassland Ecosystems
(EDGE) Net Primary Production Quadrat Data" and regressions
correlating biomass and volume constructed using seasonal harvest
weights from SEV157, "Net Primary Productivity (NPP) Weight
Data."