DOI: 10.6073/pasta/2f778ce052961faec582c0b9c984a977
title: Ecological Survey of Central Arizona: a survey of key ecological indicators in the
      greater Phoenix metropolitan area and surrounding Sonoran desert, ongoing since 1999 (Reformatted to ecocomDP Design Pattern)

description: This data package is formatted according to the "ecocomDP", a data package design pattern for ecological community surveys, and data from studies of composition and biodiversity. For more information on the ecocomDP project see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP/tree/master, or contact EDI https://environmentaldatainitiative.org.

This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-cap&identifier=652&revision=2

The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context:

 The Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA) is an extensive field survey and
        integrated inventory designed to capture key ecological indicators of the CAP LTER study
        area consisting of the urbanized, suburbanized, and agricultural areas of metropolitan
        Phoenix, and the surrounding Sonoran desert. The survey, formerly known as the survey 200
        and renamed to ESCA in 2015, is conducted every five years at approximately 200 sample plots
        (30m x 30m) that were located randomly using a tessellation-stratified dual-density sampling
        design. Study plots cover habitats throughout the CAP LTER study area ranging from native
        Sonoran desert sites to residential yards to an airport tarmac. Measurements include an
        inventory of all plants (identified to the lowest possible taxonomic unit, typically
        species), plant biovolume, soil coring for physicochemical properties, arthropod sweep-net
        sampling, photo documentation, and a visual survey of site and area characteristics. The
        objectives of the survey are to (1) characterize patches in terms of key biotic, physical,
        and chemical variables, and (2) examine relationships among land use, general plant
        diversity, native plant diversity, plant biovolume, soil nutrient status, and
        social-economic indices along an indirect urban gradient. 

 A pilot survey was conducted in 1999, and the first full ESCA was conducted in 2000.
        The maiden survey in 2000 featured a suite of measurements that were not assessed in later
        surveys, including data from a portable weather station set up during the field survey at
        each location, organic matter decomposition, pollen, and mycorrhizae. In 2010, the survey
        was expanded to include an assessment of one of the residential parcels overlapping the
        survey plot at sites in residential areas. Many of the same variables that are measured in
        the 30m x 30m survey plot are measured in the parcel, including an inventory of perennial
        plants, and the biovolume of trees. In addition, a detailed assessment of characteristics of
        the parcel is performed. 

 Investigators interested in the additional variables assessed in the 2000 ESCA, in
        parcel data collected in the 2010 and subsequent surveys, or in soil data collected during
        the 2000 ESCA (encapsulated in a separate data set owing to a different reporting format)
        should search the data catalog for 'ecological survey of central arizona' or 'survey 200' to
        locate those and other data related to the CAP LTER's ESCA.