The Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) program employs a destructive harvest method for sampling aquatic vegetation whereby a rake is dragged ~1.5 m over the substrate and plant materials are retrieved. The density of each species of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), and of all species combined, are scored based on the amount of plant material collected on the teeth of each rake. Plant density (PD) scores are ordered and vary from 0 (no plants captured) to 5 (80-100% of rake teeth covered). The PD score of 1 has represented the vast majority of all non-zero values since 1998 and is associated with a wide range of biomass (e.g. <1g to 694g fresh weight in Pools 4 and 8 during the 2017 field season). However, small plant fragments account for a large proportion of individual species and combined species samples within this density score. This study evaluated a potential new “trace” PD score in the field in 2018 in Pools 4, 8 and 13 whereby trace was defined as any visible plant material up to 1/13th of a traditional PD score of 1.

Estimation of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) biomass was evaluated using field data collected in 2017, and targeted analyses of three existing data sets: 1) Yin and Kreiling (2001), Drake et al. (2016), and 3) LTRM vegetation data (1998 – 2017). Two field studies were completed in 2017. The first targeted SAV biomass in raked plots and was conducted in collaboration with USFWS annual Lake Onalaska Vallisneria americana monitoring. In the second study, fresh weights of raked SAV were recorded at approximately 10% of LTRM Pools 4 and 8 2017 sampling sites.

Estimation of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) biomass was evaluated using field data collected in 2017, and targeted analyses of three existing data sets: 1) Yin and Kreiling (2001), Drake et al. (2016), and 3) LTRM vegetation data (1998 – 2017). Two field studies were completed in 2017. The first targeted SAV biomass in raked plots and was conducted in collaboration with USFWS annual Lake Onalaska Vallisneria americana monitoring. In the second study, fresh weights of raked SAV were recorded at approximately 10% of LTRM Pools 4 and 8 2017 sampling sites.

Forest vegetation provides an integrated measure of terrestrial ecosystem health by expressing information about the collective suite of drivers and stressors which act upon it. These include climate, disturbance, browse, and invasive species. We developed a comprehensive forest monitoring protocol to detect change in the nine Great Lakes Network parks. Monitoring is conducted on a nine-year rotation, with each of the parks sampled over the course of one summer, once every nine years. Site locations were selected to ensure that they are random, but also spatially balanced throughout the parks. At each sampling site, we collect extensive data on trees (including saplings and seedlings), shrubs, herbs, coarse woody material, and browse. We also carry out assessments of tree health. Data are housed in a Microsoft Access database and published annually in an open-source, machine readable format. Quality control measures include both on site assessments of accuracy, as well as extensive data checking via automated parsing routines. Finally, reports from monitoring are produced on a regular basis and include internal National Park Service technical reports and externally reviewed manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. All data are publicly available.

Forest vegetation provides an integrated measure of terrestrial ecosystem health by expressing information about the collective suite of drivers and stressors which act upon it. These include climate, disturbance, browse, and invasive species. We developed a comprehensive forest monitoring protocol to detect change in the nine Great Lakes Network parks. Monitoring is conducted on a nine-year rotation, with each of the parks sampled over the course of one summer, once every nine years. Site locations were selected to ensure that they are random, but also spatially balanced throughout the parks. At each sampling site, we collect extensive data on trees (including saplings and seedlings), shrubs, herbs, coarse woody material, and browse. We also carry out assessments of tree health. Data are housed in a Microsoft Access database and published annually in an open-source, machine readable format. Quality control measures include both on site assessments of accuracy, as well as extensive data checking via automated parsing routines. Finally, reports from monitoring are produced on a regular basis and include internal National Park Service technical reports and externally reviewed manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. All data are publicly available.

An ability to discern shifts in plant production may be vital to suggest management in support of vegetation stressed by climate or land-use change. This work asked if the production of mixed baldcypress swamps (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) changed over decades of study with one study conducted during the 1990s and the other from 2002-2022. In the current study from 2002 to 2022, litter and root production levels were measured in seven swamps along the Cache River Illinois, which are at their northern extreme in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley. The most important driver of production over the three decades of study was water regime. Swamps with wetter water regimes had higher leaf and reproductive tissue production. Over the last decade, root production increased by 2.5 times mostly in the upper soil layers (0-10 cm) but only in swamps in the drier and middle parts of the water gradient.

Vegetation type and density data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center at three locations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Data were collected in Lindsey Slough in April 2017, and Middle River and the Mokelumne River in March 2018. Vegetation samples were collected by divers, and used to determine dry biomass density. These data were collected as part of a cooperative project, with the USGS California Water Science Center and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, on the effects of invasive aquatic vegetation on sediment transport in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Vegetation type and density data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center at three locations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Data were collected in Lindsey Slough in April 2017, and Middle River and the Mokelumne River in March 2018. Vegetation samples were collected by divers, and used to determine dry biomass density. These data were collected as part of a cooperative project, with the USGS California Water Science Center and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, on the effects of invasive aquatic vegetation on sediment transport in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

,This data package contains annual measurements of vegetation cover, species, and height from transects at the Connectivity Modifier (Conmod) Pilot study on the Jornada Experimental Range from 2008-2016. There were 3 sites for this study: Gravelly Ridges, Aeolian, and Dona Ana. Within each site, there were 8 study plots, 4 of which were treatment plots where connectivity modules (conmods) were installed to decrease gap sizes between perennial vegetation. The plots were 8 x 8 meters and had an 8 x 8 meter buffer zone on both sides of the plot (upwind and downwind). Beginning in 2008, vegetation cover by species, and vegetation heights were collected annually in all plots using the line-point intercept method. These data were collected in 2008-2010, 2012 and 2016. At each plot, four parallel 24-meter transects crossing the upwind buffer, the plot, and the downwind buffer were measured. These parallel transects were spaced at 0.8, 2.8, 4.3, and 7.2 meter intervals across the plot and buffer areas. Vegetation cover and height were read at points arranged at 25 centimeter increments along each transect. This study is complete (finished in 2016) and was the pilot study to the newer Cross Scale Interactions Study.,,

This data set contains five data files, in comma-separated format (.csv), derived from the Walker Branch Watershed (WBW) vegetation inventory in eastern Tennessee. Field studies of permanent vegetation plots were conducted using one sampling design over a 40-year period (1967 to 2006). The data set contains long-term measurements of diameter at breast height (DBH) determined on stratified randomly-located inventory plots within the 4 different vegetation types (oak-hickory, pine-oak-hickory, pine, and mesophytic hardwoods) located in the WBW in 1967. The WBW plot-level vegetation DBH data are provided in four files. One file contains the complete set of inventory records (139,806 observations). To accommodate spreadsheet use, the complete inventory is split into three files, one containing 52,110 observations and the other two containing 48,231 and 39,465 observations, respectively. The fifth file contains the WBW vegetation species inventory with species names, the numeric species code for each species, a species group designation, the scientific name for each species, and the literature-derived ratio of g lignin/g N for leaves of each species. NPP values have been reported for various forest stands at different locations within the WBW by Olson et al. (2012a, b; DeAngelis et al. (1997); and Esser (1998). Total NPP values range from 380 gC/m2/yr for forest stands dominated by yellow poplar to 790 gC/m2/yr for forest stands dominated by oaks. Revision Notes: This updated vegetation inventory data set includes results of the 2006 survey and updates to previous results based on the latest survey. The 1967-2006 data set completely supersedes the 1967-1997 data set. If you downloaded the 1967-1997 data set before September 3, 2013, you should download the 1967-2006 version at your earliest convenience.