KinsellaMap

Plant species coordinates from a quadrat in a rough fescue short grass prairie located at the Roy Berg Kinsella Research Ranch, in Kinsella, Alberta, Canada (53°50’ N, 111°33’ W). The site is in the Aspen Parkland ecoregion and is comprised of a mosaic of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands and short-grass prairie. The plant community is dominated by C3 grasses including Festuca hallii, Hesperostipa curtiseta and Poa pratensis and includes more than 40 forb species of varying abundance. The site was historically winter-grazed by bison, and had been last grazed by cattle five years prior to sampling.

In the summer of 2005, a single haphazardly placed 3 x 3 metre plot was divided into 36 0.5 x 0.5 m grid cells. Every live stem was identified to species and mapped to the nearest centimetre providing a detailed map of the distribution of 1889 stems from 29 species. Variables PX and PY record the coordinates. Variable species is a species code drawn from the genus and species names of the vascular plants present.