Periphyton Abundance and Structural Traits, Diatom Taxa Relative Abundance, and Associated Environmental Data from Samples Collected from the Greater Everglades, Florida, USA from September 2005 - ongoing

This data package contains benthic algae (periphyton) and environmental data collected annually during the wet season between 2005 and 2021 from sites distributed throughout the greater Everglades ecosystem. This project is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program's Monitoring and Assessment Plan (CERP MAP) intended to document baseline variability in periphyton attributes for assessing the effectiveness of restoration projects. A total of 200 primary sampling units (PSU) of 800 m x 800 m are nested in 32 landscape units (LSU) and each year, random coordinates are 'drawn' within each PSU and one draw is visited in each sampleable PSU. Sampled periphyton is processed for aggregate structural traits (i.e., biomass, chlorophyll-a, organic content, and phosphorus concentration) and for diatom taxa. For diatoms, slides are prepared, and at least 500 frustules are enumerated and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic resolution per slide. Taxon abundances are then relativized to the total count. These data accompany environmental and spatial data for each sampled draw. In addition to the CERP MAP data, this dataset also includes data on the same variables collected from up to 21 primary sampling units in the Broward County Water Preserve Area beginning in 2020. The data in this package replace and supersede those in package knb-lter-fce.1210 (https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-fce&identifier=1210).