Jornada Basin and Experimental Range Mesquite Herbicide Project (JERHM) Connectivity Modifier Data, 2023

This dataset includes plant community composition, plant litter, soil depth, and shrub interspace fetch distance data collected in 2023 as part of the Jornada Experimental Range Herbicide Mesquite Project (JERHM). Data were collected to characterize plant community and ecosystem resource (plant litter, soil depth) responses to the use of Connectivity Modifiers (ConMods), which are used to reduce bare ground connectivity, alongside herbicide application to reduce honey mesquite (Neltuma glandulosa [=Prosopis glandulosa]) encroachment. ConMod and control (rebar-only) arrays were installed on 16 paired, 5-hectare plots, with one plot within each pair randomly selected to receive herbicide treatment in 2021 to reduce N. glandulosa abundance, or left untreated for comparison. Approximately 6 months after herbicide application (spring 2022), 12-unit ConMod and control (rebar-only) arrays were installed on experimental plots within 8 randomly selected N. glandulosa shrub interspaces (n = 8 arrays per plot, 4 per array type). Data were collected in the fall of 2023 at the end of the second growing season following array installation. There are no immediate plans to continue data collection.