Mapped plant community time series, Hays, KS, 1932-1972

The dataset consists of a series of permanent 1-m^2 quadrats located in mixed-grass prairie in western Kansas, USA. The key aspect of the data is that at the end of each growing season, all individual plants in each quadrat were identified and their basal cover was mapped. The combination of a long time-series with full spatial detail allows analyses of demographic processes and intra- and interspecific interactions among individual plants. The quadrats are distributed across gradients in soil type that produce distinct plants communities (see Albertson papers below) . Deep soils on the level uplands support a shortgrass community. Shallow limestone soils on hillbrows and slopes support a community dominated by little bluestem. A distinct ecotone separates the shortgrass and little bluestem areas. Most of the quadrats are located inside livestock exclosures. This distribution contains the following data and data formats: 1) Image files (.tif) of the original, scanned maps; 2) GIS files of the digitized maps in Arc Export (.e00) format; 3) GIS files of the digitized maps in shapefile format; 4) A tabular version of the entire dataset (see "Records of all individual plants" below; this is a table with no spatial information except an x,y coordinate for each individual plant record); 5) A species list, containing information on plant functional types; 6) Quadrat information, such as community type and location in the study site; 7) An inventory of the years each quadrat was sampled; 8) Monthly precipitation; 9) Monthly mean temperatures. References: Albertson, F. W. and Weaver, J. E. 1944. Nature and degree of recovery of grassland from the Great Drought of 1933 to 1940. Ecol. Monogr. 14, 393-479. Albertson, F. W. and Tomanek, G. W. 1965. Vegetation changes during a 30-year period in grassland communities near Hays, Kansas. Ecology 46, 714-720.