Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) Vegetation Line Intercept from Chihuahuan Desert Grassland and Shrubland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1995-2005)

This is data for perennial plant vegetation canopy cover measured from all SMES study plots, fall 1995 and fall 2005. The purpose of this data is to provide ground-truth data for comparison with low-level aerial photographs of each study plot. Three, 29 meter lines were measured along three of six rows of the permanent vegetation measurement quadrats. Each line was measured at 10cm resolution for intercepts of perennial plant live canopy cover, and for bare ground. 10cm resolution is comparable to the resolution of the aerial photos. All plants were identified to the species level. These line-intercept measurements are taken once every ten years, at the same time that low-level aerial photographs are taken. These data will be compared to both decadal air photos, and annual measures ofvegetation from one-meter2 quadrats on each plot to provide information on vegetation change over time relative to the various animal exclosure treatments.本数据集涵盖1995年秋季与2005年秋季在所有SMES研究样地中采集的多年生植物植被冠层覆盖度实测数据。本数据集的核心用途为提供地面真值数据（ground-truth data），用于与各研究样地的低空航空照片开展比对分析。研究团队沿永久性植被监测样方（quadrats）6行中的3行布设了3条长度为29米的测线；每条测线以10厘米分辨率记录多年生植物活体冠层覆盖截点与裸地截点，该分辨率与航空照片的分辨率相匹配。所有被测植物均被鉴定至物种水平。此类线截点测量每十年开展一次，与低空航空摄影的时间节点保持一致。本数据集将与每十年一期的航空照片，以及各研究样地内1平方米样方的年度植被监测数据进行比对，以揭示各类动物围栏排除（exclosure）处理下的植被随时间变化特征。