Marsh to Upland: Vegetation Monitoring in Coastal Virginia, 2018-2021

This dataset includes data from vegetation plots along a marsh to upland gradient in three salt-marshes along the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Coastal wetlands serve as vital habitats and provide various ecosystems services. These ecosystems are experiencing novel abiotic conditions driven by anthropogenic change, including changes in salinity and moisture due to sea level rise. A key component of wetland ecosystems are their vegetation communities, which often show a transition from non-woody marsh plants like grasses and sedges to woody shrubs and larger trees in the upland reaches of the wetland. This dataset was collected from three coastal wetlands: Boxtree Preserve (Boxtree), Cushmans Landing (Cushmans), and Mockhorn Wildlife Management Area GATR Tract (GATR). Measurements of emergent vegetation percent cover and tree and shrub characteristics are taken annually at maximum biomass for the plant community, which occurs in August in this system (Moore 2013). At each site sampling occurs along four transects which run through the low marsh, high marsh, transitional area, lowest elevation upland forest, and slightly higher elevation upland forest. Each transect is segmented into five zones based on these plant communities, which roughly correspond to elevation bins of 1m. Each zone contains one sampling location.

本数据集涵盖弗吉尼亚东海岸三处盐沼（salt marshes）中沿沼泽至高地梯度布设的植被样地数据。滨海湿地作为关键生境，可提供多种生态系统服务（ecosystem services）。受人类活动驱动，这类生态系统正经历由海平面上升引发的盐度、湿度改变等前所未有的非生物环境变化。湿地生态系统的核心组分为植被群落，这类群落在湿地向高地延伸的区域通常呈现出从草本、莎草等非木本沼泽植物，向木本灌木与高大乔木过渡的分布特征。本数据集采集自三处滨海湿地：博克斯特里保护区（Boxtree Preserve，简称博克斯特里）、库什曼登陆点（Cushmans Landing，简称库什曼）以及莫克霍恩野生动物管理区GATR地块（Mockhorn Wildlife Management Area GATR Tract，简称GATR）。研究团队于每年植物群落生物量达到峰值的时段（该区域植物群落的生物量峰值期为8月，Moore, 2013），开展挺水植被盖度及乔灌木性状的野外测定工作。每个采样点均沿四条样带布设，样带依次覆盖低潮沼、高潮沼、过渡区域、低海拔高地森林及稍高海拔高地森林。每条样带依据上述植被群落划分为五个分区，各分区大致对应1米高程区间，每个分区设置一个采样点位。