Litter and Groundstorey Vegetation Biomass Data

These data were collected as part of the [NSW Grazing Study](https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/nsw-grazing-studyd114). All surface litter was collected from a single small quadrat (0.5m x 0.5m) at either 0m or 50m location along the 200m transect. Litter was oven-dried, divided into the following six components and weighed separately: overstorey leaves (shrubs and trees), groundstorey leaves, reproductive structures (seeds, flowers, capsules, nuts), woody components (sticks, bark), animal derived material (invertebrates, dung), and frass (< 2 mm diameter). Calculation of plant biomass. Groundstorey vegetation biomass was calculated using an adaption of the comparative yield method (Haydock & Shaw, 1975) using photo-standards to assist in estimation of biomass. At each site all five small quadrats (0.5m x 0.5m) were photographed at a 45° angle about 1 m above the quadrat. After photographing we clipped, oven-dried and weighed all vegetative material rooted (living or dead) within either the 0m or the 50 m small quadrat (451 sites by one quadrat). Trained observers used the photographs to estimate groundstorey plant biomass for all quadrats, calibrating their estimation against the series of photographs of with known biomass. The harvested samples were used to assess accuracy of the estimations at each site and the observers estimates averaged, scaled across quadrats at a site to generate a site-level estimation of groundstorey biomass.

本数据集采集自[新南威尔士州放牧研究(NSW Grazing Study)](https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/nsw-grazing-studyd114)项目。所有地表枯落物均沿200m样带，在距离起点0m或50m处的单个小型样方（0.5m×0.5m）中采集。枯落物经烘箱烘干后，分为以下6个组分分别称重：上层植被叶片（灌木与乔木叶片）、下层植被叶片、繁殖结构（种子、花、蒴果、坚果）、木质组分（枝条、树皮）、动物源物质（无脊椎动物、粪便）以及虫粪（直径<2mm）。植物生物量计算方面，下层植被生物量采用改良的相对产量法（Haydock & Shaw, 1975），辅以照片标准物辅助开展生物量估算。在每个样地，均在样方上方约1m处以45°角拍摄5个小型样方（0.5m×0.5m）的照片。拍摄完成后，对0m或50m处小型样方内所有生根的活体与枯死植物材料进行刈割、烘箱烘干并称重（共451个样地，每个样地对应1个样方）。经过专业培训的观察员通过拍摄的照片估算所有样方的下层植被生物量，并以已知生物量的系列照片作为校准基准。收获的样本用于评估每个样地估算结果的准确性，随后对观察员的估算值取平均值，并在样地内的各样方间进行尺度转换，最终生成样地尺度的下层植被生物量估算值。