This data set contains three ACSII files (.txt format). Two files contain above-ground biomass data for two ungrazed seashore meadow plots dominated by the saltmeadow rush Juncus gerardii at Tullgarnsnaset, near Stockholm, Sweden (approximately 59.20 N, 17.50 E). There is one file for each plot. The third data file contains monthly and annual climate data from weather station near Stockholm (59.4 N, 18.0 E) for the period 1951-1990. Measurements of above-ground live biomass and total dead matter were made approximately monthly from April 1968 to April 1969. Below-ground biomass was also measured, but the data are not reported in this data set. Annual above-ground net primary production (ANPP) was estimated by several calculation methods, including peak total live plus current dead matter; sum of species maxima (biomass + dead material); single square clippings; and variations of these equations. The rate of disappearance of dead material and mortality were also determined. Mean ANPP estimates ranged from 324 g/m2/yr (max live + dead) to 430 g/m2/yr (taken as the mean of the two sites accounting for disappearance of dead matter).

This data set provides two data files in text format (.txt). One file contains tri-monthly measurements of above-ground biomass made during the growing season between July 1982 and August 1990 on a dry, cold Eurasian steppe dominated by Stipa grandis at the Tumentsogt Research Station in Mongolia. The second file contains monthly and annual climate data recorded at the study site from 1963 through 1983. Mongolian steppes occupy a major part of eastern Mongolia and northern China and are characterized climatically by low mean annual rainfall and temperature, with a highly seasonal pattern in both. The beginning of spring rainfall and warming are strongly correlated, and the onset of the growing season rainfall triggers the green-up in the region. Land use is dominated by grazing, historically by nomadic pastoralists and more recently for cooperative livestock production. Privatization of grazing land and cropland conversions have been increasing since 1990. Ecosystem degradation such as deterioration of vegetation (e.g., vegetation removal and replacement) and soil (e.g., erosion) is becoming widespread. Peak above-ground biomass at Tumentsogt occurs during a short rainy season (June-August). The amount of biomass fluctuates from year-to-year coherently with rainfall variation. Above-ground net primaryp roductivity (ANPP) estimates are relatively low in comparison to other temperate grasslands, ranging from 72 to 160 g/m2/yr. Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The data files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1996.

This data set provides three data files in text format (.txt). Two files contain biomass and above-ground net primary production (ANPP) estimates for two upland meadows with contrasting soil types at the Otradnoe research station of the V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences located on the Karelian peninsula 100-km to the north of St. Petersburg, Russia. The third file contains monthly and annual climate data recorded at the study site for the period 1968-1973. Measurements of above- and below-ground live and dead biomass were made at a sandy meadow (OTRS) from 1969 to 1972 and at a loamy meadow (OTRL) from 1969 to 1973. Additional biomass measurements were made at OTRS in June 1972 and at OTRL in May 1973. Monthly N, P, and S content of above-ground live biomass were measured 1969-1971 at OTRS.Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The data files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1996.

This data set provides three data files in text format (.txt). One file contains monthly above-ground biomass measurements made in 1965 in a humid grass savanna at the Lamto Research Station, Cote Ivoire, Africa. The second file contains monthly above- and below-ground biomass measurements and calculations of carbon/nitrogen ratio of above-ground live and dead biomass and below-ground biomass from the same site for 1969-1987. The third file contains monthly and annual climate data for the study site for the period 1969-1990.Total net primary production (NPP) of the Loudetia simplex grass savanna was estimated at 2,150 g/m2/yr, of which 1,320 g/m2/yr (61%) was below-ground production. Normally 50-90% of above-ground grass biomass is burned annually,Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The data files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1996.

This data set provides two data files in text format (.txt). One file contains biomass measurements and cumulative ANPP estimates made between 1978 and 1985 at an ultracontinental steppe at the Tuva Research Station in Russia. The second file contains monthly and annual climate data for the study site for 1976-1985.Monthly measurements of above-ground live phytomass, standing dead, and litter biomass were made during each growing season (May-August) of the eight-year study period. Harvests of below-ground biomass were made at the end of the growing season in some years. A year-end measurement of above-ground biomass (particularly standing dead and litter) was also made in 1980. Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The data files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1996.

This data set provides two data files in text format (.txt). One file contains a long time series of biomass measurements made between 1954 and 1983 on a virgin meadow steppe in the Central-Chernozem V.V. Alyekhin Natural Reserve, Kursk Region, Russia. The second file contains monthly and annual climate data for the study site for the period 1947-1983.Above-ground live biomass measurements were made at biweekly to monthly intervals over the entire 30-year time series. Discontinuous measurements of above-ground standing dead matter and litter biomass (1956-1983) and below-ground live and dead biomass (1972-1973 and 1981-1983) were also made. Cumulative ANPP was estimated at the end of the growing season (1956-1963 and 1972-1973) and monthly (1982-1983). Averaged over the time series, above-ground live phytomass, standing dead, and litter biomass were estimated to be 362, 344, and 424 g/m2 (dry matter weight), respectively, while below-ground phytomass and mortmass were 910 and 1,370 g/m2 (dry matter weight), respectively. ANPP was estimated to be 774 g/m2/yr and BNPP was estimated to be 1,700 g/m2/yr for a TNPP estimate of 2,474 g/m2/yr. The study site is one of eight major grassland types of Eurasia which encompass an extremely wide climatic gradient in the direction of increasing maximum summer temperatures and continentality and decreasing precipitation in a north-west to the south-east band of steppes in the European and Asian parts of the former USSR (Commonwealth of Independent States). Kurst, on rich loamy chernozem soil, is one of the most productive upland grassland ecosystems of Russia with annual mean maximum/minimum temperatures of 24.8/-14.4 C and annual mean precipitation of 582.7 mm for the period 1947-1983. Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The data files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1996.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). Two files contain above- and below-ground biomass and productivity data for a northern mixed prairie grassland, one file for an ungrazed treatment and the other for a heavily grazed treatment. The study site (46.90 N, -102.82 W, Elevation 784 m) is located in the northern Great Plains, near the city of Dickinson, about 160-km west of Bismarck, North Dakota. The third file contains climate data for the period 1891-1994 obtained from a weather station near Dickinson (46.88 N, -102.80 W, Elevation 750 m). Dynamics of above-ground living and dead plant biomass were monitored by the harvest technique at roughly 2-week intervals during the growing season of 1970. Total below-ground biomass was sampled at the same intervals by manual coring within the harvested plots to a depth sufficient to include at least 90% of the root mass. Data were collected as part of a coordinated study over 1-3 years at ten grassland sites of the central and western United States, under the US Grassland Biome Project of the International Biological Program (IBP).Above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) was estimated conservatively by summing peak biomass of individual species. These values were 351 g/m2/year for ungrazed and 302 g/m2/year for grazed grassland plots. Below-ground net primary productivity (BNPP) was estimated as the sum of positive increments in total root biomass (including root crowns); 932 g/m2/year for ungrazed and 958 g/m2/year for grazed grassland plots. Revision Notes: Only the documentation for this data set has been modified. The files have been checked for accuracy and are identical to those originally published in 1998.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). Two files contain above- and below-ground biomass and productivity data for a mixed prairie grassland, one file for an ungrazed treatment and the other for a moderately grazed treatment. The study site (38.87 N, - 99.38 W, Elevation 714 m) is located in the central Great Plains near the city of Hays, Kansas, about 400-km west of Kansas City. The third file contains monthly and annual climate data for the period 1891-1994 obtained from a weather station (38.87 N, -99.38 W, Elevation 613 m) located at the Hays grassland study site. Dynamics of above-ground living and dead plant biomass were monitored by the harvest technique at roughly 2-week intervals during the growing season of 1970. Total below-ground biomass was sampled at the same intervals by manual coring within the harvested plots to a depth sufficient to include at least 90% of the root mass. Data were collected as part of a coordinated study over 1-3 years at ten grassland sites of the central and western United States, under the US Grassland Biome Project of the International Biological Program (IBP).Annual above-ground net primary production (ANPP) was estimated conservatively by summing peak biomass of individual species. These values were 363 g/m2/year for ungrazed and 372 g/m2/year for grazed grassland plots. Annual below-ground net primary production (BNPP) was estimated as the sum of positive increments in total root biomass (including root crowns); 1,062 g/m2/year for ungrazed and 855 g/m2/year for grazed grassland plots.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). Two files contain above-ground biomass and productivity data for a humid temperate tall-grass prairie grassland located in the Konza Prairie Natural Research Area, Kansas. One file provides data for an unburned treatment and the other for a burned treatment for 1975 to 1990. The third file contains climate data for the period 1891-1988 obtained from a weather station at Konza. The above-ground net primary productivity measurement presented here (394 g/m2/year) is a 10-year average (1975-1984) based on peak seasonal live biomass values averaged for burned and unburned lowland and upland grasslands. The Konza study site (39.10 N, - 96.61 W, Elevation 400 m) is situated near the town of Manhattan in north-eastern Kansas, about 170-km west of Kansas City. The Konza research program is built upon a long-term database on ecological pattern and process data derived from a fully replicated watershed-level experimental design, in place at the Konza Prairie Biological Station since 1977. This design includes replicate watersheds subject to different fire and grazing treatments. Within the watersheds, permanent sampling transects are replicated at various topographic positions, where plant species composition, plant and consumer populations, above-ground net primary production (ANPP), soil properties, and other key above- and below-ground processes are measured. In addition to these watershed-level studies, the Konza Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program includes a number of long-term plot-level experiments.

This data set contains three ASCII files (.txt format). One file provides above- and below-ground biomass, productivity, litterfall, and bioelement data for a native C3 grassland near Charleville (-26.40 S, 146.27 E, Elevation 304 m) in southern Queensland, northeast Australia. The second file provides above- and below-ground biomass and productivity estimates for an introduced C4 grassland near Charleville. The third file contains climate data (precipitation and maximum/minimum temperature) recorded a weather station located at the Charleville Airport for the period 1942-1994. The NPP studies were carried out over a 12-month period from 1973 to 1974 using harvest techniques with a view to parameterizing a simulation model of primary production and livestock carrying capacity. Peak above-ground standing crop at the end of the summer season was 122 g/m2 and 154 g/m2 for the native and introduced grasslands, respectively. Maximum below-ground standing crop was markedly different, at 110 g/m2 and 400 g/m2, respectively, suggesting a significant difference in shoot/root allocation. Annual net primary production was estimated as the sum of above-ground peak standing crop (live + dead) and root increment. These values were 182 and 319 g/m2/yr for the native and introduced grasslands, respectively. Additional data on litter production and nutrient dynamics are available for the native grassland site. Data on soil moisture, determined gravimetrically with each biomass harvest, are available in the literature.