Data from: Patch-burn grazing increased structural heterogeneity in southwestern North Dakota rangelands

<p dir="ltr">Who: USDA ARS and NDSU range and wildlife researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate technicians</p><p dir="ltr">What: Structural characteristics and community composition collected from southwestern North Dakota rangelands from 2017 through 2020</p><p dir="ltr">Where: Hettinger Research Extension Center in Hettinger, North Dakota USA</p><ul><li>6, 65 ha patch-burn grazing pastures were the primary data collection locations</li></ul><p dir="ltr">Why: These two files come from a patch-burn grazing study in southwestern North Dakota that were comparing an iteration of patch-burn grazing with cattle to a version of patch-burn grazing with sheep for the grazing component. Feel free to contact me at jonathan.spiess@usda.gov or jwspiess@gmail.com.</p><p dir="ltr">How: We used 0.5m x 0.5m quadrats to measure vegetation structure characteristics and community composition along 100m transects in patches (subsections) of larger pastures or management units. We measured 1 quadrat spaced every 10 m starting at 0 on both sides of the transect for 22 total quadrats per transect in patch-burn grazing pastures. Transects were distributed amongst patches of each pasture and management unit.</p><ul><li>Data were analyzed using a combination of mixed-effect models and ordinations to compare time since fire (TSF) and grazer type (cattle or sheep).</li></ul><p dir="ltr">17_18_19_20vegFG.csv is the primary dataset for this paper and repository here. We collected vegetation structure and community composition data in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.</p><ul><li>Columns Year through PastPatch are various grouping variables used throughout the analysis.</li><li><ul><li>Pasture is the primary ID for a given unit</li><li>Block is the assigned set of pastures the pasture matches</li><li>TSF is the time since fire for a given location</li><li>Use is whether the pasture or management unit was managed for heterogeneity or homogeneity</li><li>Management is the grazer type for pbg pastures and hay or idle for management units</li><li>Patch is a subsection of the pasture or management unit</li><li>PastPatch is a combination of the pasture name with the patch number</li></ul></li><li>VOR: Visual Obstruction Reading was measured using a Robel pole marked and recorded in 0.25 dm increments. We took four readings per quadrat and calculated an average score from these.</li><li>MaxLive and MaxDead: these were the tallest living and tallest standing dead plant material within the quadrat measured in 0.25 dm increments using the Robel pole.</li><li>LitMean: We measured litter depth using a ruler to the nearest cm in the four corners of each quadrat. After 2017, we started recording all four measurements instead of just recording the average of the four measurements.</li><li>BGCover: bare ground cover is any exposed soil surface than can be seen when looking down on the quadrat. We expected this to be higher in recently burned patches.</li><li>GCover: ground litter cover is any visible horizontal ground litter than can be seen when looking down on the quadrat. We expected this to be higher in recently burned patches.</li><li>LitCover: vertical litter cover is any visible standing or vertical litter than can be seen when looking down on the quadrat. We expected this to be lower in recently burned patches.</li><li>Columns ACMI through VIAM are the 4 letter species codes used during data collection on a tablet to record cover by cover class. The tablet was programmed to autorecord a '0' for species that were not present in the quadrat.</li><li>Columns NatForb through NatShrub are the calculated cover values for finer scale groupings based on native and introduced status.</li><li>Columns Forb through Litter are additional calculated cover values.</li></ul><p dir="ltr">RadGraph.csv was used to expedite making a community composition figure that is now in the supplemental materials for the paper.</p><p><br></p>

Tags: patch-burn-grazing, rangeland-management, structural-heterogeneity, vegetation-structure
Organization: Department of Agriculture