End of Year Biomass in Marshes of the Virginia Coast Reserve 2021-

Primary productivity is one of the core areas of the LTER Network. The Marsh End-of-Year-Biomass (EOYB) dataset quantifies annual net primary productivity through aboveground plant harvest at peak biomass. The dataset will help to detect changes in marsh zonation, marsh transgression, community assembly, and primary productivity in each of four vegetation zones that span the tidal marsh ecosystem. In six permanent plots (1.5m x 1.5m) in each of the four zones (creek bank, low marsh, high marsh, and transition zone), all aboveground biomass and standing dead biomass in a 0.25m x 0.25m subplot is harvested each year. Biomass is sorted to species and categorized as alive or dead, dried at 60C for 3 days, and dry weight is recorded. End-of-Year biomass data is collected at salt marshes located in Norhtampton Co., VA. Older data (1999-2021), using a different sampling protocol, may be found in dataset VCR09159 (knb-lter-vcr.167).