SGS-LTER CO2 Elevation Study: Weights of roots from Open Top Chamber root coring on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1997 - 2001

This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/82454. At the end of the 5-year OTC study, root cores were taken from ambient and elevated-CO2-chambered plots and unchambered controls and sectioned at 10cm intervals for root scanning and weighing. There was a trend for higher root weight under elevated CO2, which corresponded to greater root length, but only in the 0-10cm depth interval. This research was conducted at the Central Plains Experimental Range, near Nunn, CO; lat.40degrees 40 minutes N; long. 104 degrees 45 minutes W in the shortgrass steppe region of NE Colorado, USA and as a collaboration between SGS-LTER and USDA-ARS researchers.