DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c2fqz6175
title: Plant composition of northern temperate pastures and their disturbance history in Alberta, Canada

description: This data set includes the plant composition of 102 pastures sampled in
 north-central Alberta, Canada. Sampled pastures were located in the
 Central Parkland and Dry Mixed-Wood natural subregions, and were largely
 comprised of introduced species. In this study, we examined the influence
 of pasture disturbance history on vegetation, soil properties, and
 rangeland health. Disturbance history includes estimates of pasture age,
 cultivation history, fire history, grazing history (including stocking
 rates), and other pasture management activities/inputs (manure,
 fertilizer, etc.).
description: Methods copied from our accepted manuscript: Pyle, Lysandra A.,
 Hall, Linda, and Bork, Edward W. (In Press). Northern temperate pastures
 exhibit divergent plant community responses to management and disturbance
 legacies identified through a producer survey. <em>Applied
 Vegetation Science</em>. <b>1.  Study
 location</b> We surveyed 102 pastures during 2012 (n=44) and 2013 (n=58)
 between May 24 and July 6, distributed across agricultural lands within 80
 km of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  About half the pastures were in the
 Central Parkland (n=50), with the remainder in the Dry Mixedwood (n=50)
 and Central Mixedwood (n=2) subregions. A large and well-distributed
 sample size ensured wide variation in soil textures, seeded and non-seeded
 vegetation, and management actions. Pastures were selected using a
 stratified random approach, separated by at least 800 m. Pastures were
 identified through consultation with municipal county staff, then driving
 roadsides to confirm suitable fields visually. Pastures had to accommodate
 a 260 m long transect (minimum of 4 ha) with buffer zones from wetlands
 (30 m), forests and fence lines (10 m), with larger pastures given
 preference. Acquisition of sites was constrained by landowners’
 willingness to grant permission to their land, although refusals were
 uncommon (n &lt; 10). A privacy agreement with landowners prohibits us
 from releasing the locations of pastures.
 <strong>2. Producer management and disturbance
 history</strong>             Pasture management
 and disturbance history were acquired for all 102 pastures through a
 retrospective, in-person interview. Interviews were approved by the
 University of Alberta’s Research Ethics Board (ID: Pro0030842). Interviews
 identified historical and current land-use practices and natural
 disturbances potentially influencing soil and vegetation. Managers were
 initially asked about ownership and whether the pasture had been
 previously cultivated. If cultivated, managers estimated when it was
 planted (grassland age) and how (seeding history was described in Pyle,
 Hall, & Bork, 2018); cultivation status could also be classified
 as unknown (attributed to land-turnover or rented pasture). Recent
 management actions were summarized, including grazing history (grazing
 system, timing of grazing, number of animals, type of livestock,
 supplemental feeding with hay), mechanical treatments (aerated, harrowed,
 or swathed/mowed), nutrient addition (fertilizer or manure), or herbicide
 application. Livestock stocking rates [in animal-unit-months per ha (AUM
 ha<sup>-1</sup>)] were calculated for pastures (n=80) where
 adequate information on grazing activities was obtained (see Pyle, Hall,
 & Bork, 2018), where one AUM is the forage required to support a
 mature cow (with or without a calf) for one month. Other natural
 disturbances capable of influencing vegetation, such as a known history of
 recent fire, were recorded. All management actions and disturbance factors
 are described in Appendix S1 (<em>Applied Vegetation
 Science</em> manuscript). <strong>3.
 Plant cover, ground cover, and soil properties</strong>
            Following the interview, a grassland assessment was
 conducted. To begin sampling, a random point was located from which a 260
 m long ‘W-transect’ was laid out (Thomas, 1985). Plant composition and
 ground cover were assessed at nine equidistant locations using a 0.25
 m<sup>2</sup> quadrat. Foliar cover was estimated for each
 plant species, with trace species recorded as 0.1%. Plants were identified
 (Moss & Packer, 1983) and nomenclature updated using VASCAN
 (Brouillet et al., 2018). Plant species were later grouped into major
 cover components by origin (total native, total introduced) and growth
 form [forbs, graminoids (grasses, sedges, rushes)], as well as functional
 groups such as introduced grasses (seeded or widely naturalized),
 introduced legumes (seeded or widely naturalized), introduced ruderal
 forbs (agronomic weeds), noxious weeds [defined by the <i>Weed
 Control Act </i>(Province of Alberta, 2010)], native perennial
 graminoids, native perennial forbs, native ruderal forbs, and native woody
 plants. These functional groups are related to rangeland health, which
 evaluates key forages, along with unpalatable and disturbance-induced
 plants. For each pasture, plant community richness, diversity (effective
 number of species), and Pielou’s evenness were summarized for inclusion in
 multivariate analyses. At all locations where cover was observed, the area of
 litter and exposed mineral soil on the ground surface were estimated, and
 litter depth was measured at five random locations within the 0.25
 m<sup>2 </sup>frame. Mineral soil was sampled to a depth of 15
 cm at ten random locations. During preparation of soil cores (Pyle, Hall,
 & Bork, 2019), charcoal layers in the top 15 cm of mineral soil
 were often found, indicating fire occurrence in the pasture’s history and
 not reported by managers. For each grassland, soil properties including %
 total carbon (C), % total nitrogen (N), carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N),
 organic matter (OM), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and texture (%
 clay, % sand, % silt) were measured. Procedures and specific responses are
 summarized elsewhere (Pyle, Hall, & Bork, 2019).
 <strong>4. Rangeland health</strong>
            Rangeland health was assessed using the <i>Tame
 Pasture Assessment Form </i>developed by Alberta Environment and
 Parks (Adams et al., 2010; resources available at https://www.alberta.ca/range-health.aspx). In brief, this process evaluated grasslands based on six criteria, including: (1) vegetation composition and forage cover (tame or modified-tame), (2) the status of vegetation as either desirable (i.e., tall, productive forages) or non-desirable (non-palatable) species in tame pasture, (3) hydrologic function and nutrient cycling (abundance of litter), (4) site stability (exposed mineral soil and evidence of erosion), (5) noxious weeds, and (6) encroachment by woody plants (scoring is summarized in Pyle, Hall, & Bork, 2018). In total, 60% of the health score arises from vegetation attributes, 25% from hydrologic function, and 15% from site stability (Adams et al., 2010). <strong>5. Literature Cited</strong> Adams, B. W., Ehlert, G., Stone, C., Lawrence, D., Alexander, M., Willoughby, M., Hincz, C., Moisey, D., Burkinshaw, A., Carlson, J., & France, K. (2010). <i>Rangeland health assessment for grassland, forest and tame pasture</i>. Public Lands and Forests Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Alberta, Canada.   Brouillet L, Desmet P, Coursol F, Meades SJ, Favreau M, Anions M, Bélisle P, Gendreau C, Shorthouse D, & Contributors. (2018). <i>Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN).</i> Online at http://data.canadensys.net/vascan. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.25.3100  [accessed in August 2018]   Moss, E. H., & Packer, J. G. (1983). <i>Flora of Alberta: a manual of flowering plants, conifers, ferns, and fern allies found growing without cultivation in the Province of Alberta, Canada </i>(2<sup>nd</sup> ed.). University of Toronto Press, London, Ontario, Canada. Province of Alberta. 2010. <i>Weed Control Act</i>. Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Pyle, L. A, Hall, L. M. & Bork, E. W. (2018). Linking management practices with range health in northern temperate pastures. <i>Canadian Journal of Plant Science</i>, 98(3), 657-671. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2017-0223 Pyle, L. A, Hall, L. M., & Bork, E. W. (2019). Soil properties in northern temperate pastures do not vary with management practices and are independent of rangeland health. <i>Canadian Journal of Soil Science</i>, 99(4), 495-507. https://doi.org/10.1139/CJSS-2019-0076 Thomas, A. G. (1985). Weed survey system used in Saskatchewan for cereal and oilseed crops. <i>Weed Science</i>, 33(1), 34-43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043174500083892
description: <b>Variable
 descriptions</b> All variables have descriptive
 titles, e.g. “PastureAge”, “LitterCover”, “GrazingSystem”, “StockingRate”.
 For plant composition, each species is described by its specific epithet
 in the form of “Poa.pratensis”. <b>Missing values and
 unknown survey responses</b> This data set contains missing
 values represented as 'NA'. Where land managers were uncertain
 of disturbance history, this was described as
 'unknown'. <b>Below is a summary of
 what this data set contains:</b> <b>Column
 A.</b> Site ID (1-102) <b>Columns
 B-N.</b> Summary of the rangeland health survey. See the
 Rangeland Health Assessment (RHA) for Tame Pasture in Alberta Canada
 (Adams et al. 2010). This summary includes the scores for criteria in the
 health assessment (e.g, “ForageCover”) and the final score
 (RHAScore). <b>Columns
 O-AG.</b> Summary of pasture management and disturbance
 history. A detailed
 description of our landowner survey was published in Pyle et al. 2018.
 This includes estimates of pasture age, cultivation history, fire history,
 grazing history (including stocking rates), and other pasture management
 activities/inputs (manure, fertilizer, etc.). <b>Columns
 AH-GK.</b> Plant composition. Average foliar cover (%) in each
 pasture over 9 sample locations. <b>Columns
 GL-GZ.</b> Summary of plant community richness, diversity, and the
 cover of major plant functional groups (sum cover). <b>Columns
 HA-HC.</b> Ground cover (%) and litter depth (cm). <b>Columns
 HD-HI. </b>Soil properties [electrical conductivity (EC, μS
 cm<sup>-1</sup>), pH, % organic matter (OM), % carbon,
 etc.]. Soil properties
 and soil texture were linked to pasture disturbance history in Pyle et al.
 2019. <b>Columns
 HJ-HM. </b>Soil texture (% sand, silt, clay). <b>Column
 HN.</b> Natural subregion in Alberta, Canada. <b>Literature
 Cited</b> Adams, B. W., Ehlert, G., Stone,
 C., Lawrence, D., Alexander, M., Willoughby, M., Hincz, C., Moisey, D.,
 Burkinshaw, A., Carlson, J., & France, K. (2010).
 <i>Rangeland health assessment for grassland, forest and tame
 pasture</i>. Public Lands and Forests Division, Alberta Sustainable
 Resource Development, Alberta, Canada. Pyle, L. 2018. Influence of
 management and disturbance history on germinable seed bank composition and
 legume recruitment in Alberta’s Aspen Parkland and Mixedgrass Prairie.
 <i>Ph.D. Thesis</i>, University of Alberta, Department of
 Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. pp.
 586. https://doi.org/10.7939/R3RJ4999T Pyle, L. A, Hall, L. M. & Bork, E. W. (2018). Linking management practices with range health in northern temperate pastures. <i>Canadian Journal of Plant Science</i>, 98(3), 657-671. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2017-0223 Pyle, L. A, Hall, L. M., & Bork, E. W. (2019). Soil properties in northern temperate pastures do not vary with management practices and are independent of rangeland health. <i>Canadian Journal of Soil Science</i>, 99(4), 495-507. https://doi.org/10.1139/CJSS-2019-0076