Dynamics of Chapman's goldenrod (Solidago odora var. chapmanii) with fire at Archbold Biological Station, 1991-2000

This dataset summarizes the dynamics of Chapman's goldenrod (Solidago
odora var. chapmanii) at Archbold Biological Station from 1991-2000.
The data were collected from 23 quadrats, each 1 meter square.
Quadrats were located across the Station, mainly in southern ridge
sandhill (hickory phase), also known as oak-hickory scrub. The
quadrats have a complex fire history during the study, as summarized
by six fire variables indicating the years of burns and the total
number of burns for each quadrat. Monitoring in quadrats started at
various times from 1991-1995, usually shortly after prescribed fires.
Quadrats were visited annually in the late summer or fall (August
except in September and October in 1991 and 1992, respectively). With
each visit, we counted the number of stems and the number of flowering
stems. We also measured the heights of each stem and provided the mean
height in cm for each quadrat. Because this species is clonal, we do
not consider the data as representing a particular number of genetic
individuals. We did not include data in plots that had burned within
the previous four months. We also collected data from excavations and
from observations of herbivores; these data are not included in this
dataset. We found that densities decreased following fire, that
flowering was concentrated in the first two years after fire, and that
repeated burns reproduced these patterns. Together with other data, we
suggested that Chapman's goldenrod was unusual among Florida scrub
plants in having three modes of post-fire recovery (resprouting,
clonal growth, seedling recruitment) and that its life history was
characterized by persistence between fires (as a persistent bud bank)
and strong post-fire positive responses.