TITLE: Toolik Snowfence Experiment: 1994-2000 Plant community data PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Marilyn Walker Leader, Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit USFS PNW Research Station and University of Alaska Fairbanks Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit School of Agriculture and Land Resources Management P.O. Box 756780 University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK 99775-6780 Phone: 907-474-2424 Fax: 907-474-6251 E-mail: ffmdw@uaf.edu FUNDING SOURCE: National Science Foundation ARCTIC SYSTEM SCIENCE PROGRAM: Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions (LAII) and The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) GRANT TITLE AND GRANT NUMBERS: Collaborative Research: Species Responses to Changes in Climate Across Arctic Gradients Using the North America ITEX Network (NATEX): Influences On Community and Ecosystem Processes 1994 - 1998: OPP-9400083, OPP-9642517 1999 - 2003: OPP-9996383, OPP-9907127, OPP-0041576, OPP-0120134 CONDITIONS FOR USE AND CITATION: For permission to use these data, contact the Principal Investigator. Grant numbers must be cited in any manuscripts resulting from these data. In addition, a copy of the manuscript must be sent to the PI. DATA SET OVERVIEW: This file contains plant community data collected for the Toolik Snowfence Experiment from 1994 to 2000. The Toolik Snowfence Experiment (part of the International Tundra Experiment network) examines the short- and long-term effects of increased snow depth (shortened growing season) and increased summer temperature on arctic tundra vegetation. The goal of this project is to assess potential changes in tundra plant communities in response to global climate change. Time period covered by data: 19940708 to 20000728 Physical location of measurement: Toolik Field Station, Alaska USA (68.62710 N, 149.59322 W) DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING: These data were collected during the 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000 field seasons using a fixed, 75 cm square point frame, with 100 measurements spaced 7 cm apart. At each of 100 points per plot, the following information was recorded in a spatially explicit format: species hit, condition, woodiness, repeatability and quantity. The Toolik Snowfence Experiment's design and manipulation are described further in: Walker, M. D., D. A. Walker, J. M. Welker, A. M. Arft, T. Bardsley, P. D. Brooks, J. T. Fahnestock, M. H. Jones, M. Losleben, A. N. Parsons, T. R. Seastedt and P. L. Turner. 1999. Long-term experimental manipulation of winter snow regime and summer temperature in arctic and alpine tundra. Hydrological Processes 13: 2315-2330. DATA FORMAT: File name: USTOOLIK_pointframe94-00.txt SUMMARY OF VARIABLES FOR 1994-2000 DATA 1. SITE: country/site/project title 2. DATE: date of data collection (YYYYMMDD) 3. PLOT: unique plot number 4. WARMING_TREATMENT: main ITEX treatment 5. LOCATION: site; moist or dry 6. ZONE: 0 - 6 (see below) 7. CODE: hit; 6-8 character species or ground condition code (see below) 8. HEIGHT: distance from frame to species or ground (cm) 9. X_COORDINATE: X coordinate of point frame grid (cm) 10. Y_COORDINATE: Y coordinate of point frame grid (cm) 11. CONDITION: condition of hit 12. WOODY: location of hit 13. REPEAT: repeatability 14. QUANTITY: number of hits DESCRIPTION OF SELECT VARIABLES: SITE USTOOLIK: Toolik Field Station, Alaska, USA; Comparative responses of moist and dry arctic tundra to altered snow and temperature regimes LOCATION Research site: Snowfences are erected and grids established at both a moist tussock site (68.62032 N, 149.59931) and a dry heath site (68.62261 N, 149.59589 W). In addition, monitored plots are established where a natural snowdrift occurs. This site is referred to as the snowfield. ZONE Snow manipulation: A 60 m snowfence is aligned on an east-west axis at both the moist and dry sites. Both snowfences are perpendicular to the predominant winter winds from the Brooks Range to the south, effectively creating a leeward drift 50-60 m long on the north side of the fence. An established grid on the north side of the fence divides the drift into 6 parallel zones (60 m x 10 m). Zone number increases from 1 to 6, as distance from the snowfence increases. Zones 1, 2 and 3 accumulate the most snow (2-3 m), while zones 4, 5 and 6 accumulate the least snow (0.5-2 m). Zone 0 (the control) is located adjacent to the snowfence grid and does not receive supplemental snow. TREATMENT ITEX temperature manipulation. OTC: Open-topped chamber (warming), CTL: No chamber (control) CONDITION Condition of hit. L: live, D: dead (specimen is dead but attached to substrate), S: standing dead (hit is a non-green portion of a living plant), O: other (hit is a non-living ground condition) WOODY Location of hit for a woody plant. Y: yes (hit woody), N: no (hit not woody or hit not a woody plant), O: other (hit non-living ground condition) REPEAT Subjective assessment of whether the species, growth form, or ground condition is likely to be encountered on the next sampling date; e.g. leaf-tip of a grass: N; center of rock: Y. QUANTITY Hit quantity for a species at a single x, y coordinate. Height was not recorded for quantity hits. CODES USED IN DATA SET In all years missing data is indicated by "-9999". DATA REMARKS: 1994: Plots 84-92 were not sampled in subsequent years. Quantity data was not recorded in 1994. 1996: Quantity data was not recorded in 1996. 1998: Quantity data was not recorded in 1998. 2000: Hit quantity was recorded for select plots (101, 106, 107, 108, 111, 155, 156, 160, 162, 163, 165, 304) only. Repeatability data was not recorded in 2000. Plot 304 was not sampled in preceding years. Missing registration markers were either displaced or lost. LOCATION OF ORIGINAL DATA SHEETS: Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA DOCUMENTATION AUTHOR: Original: Amy Breen Carroll, 28 March, 2001 Updated by: Amy Breen Carroll, 2 January, 2002 PRINCIPAL FIELD WORKERS: Andrew Borner PRINCIPAL POSTDOCS: Michael H. Jones Anna Arft PUBLICATIONS WHICH INCLUDE THESE DATA: None to date.