Patterns of precipitation and productivity on various topographic positions on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado
Thirty-six years of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) data collected across a topographic sequence in the semiarid shortgrass steppe of North America to examine patterns and drivers of spatiotemporal variability in ANPP. ANPP data were collected from the 6,500 ha USDA-Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER), which is part of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR; 2012-present; https://ltar.ars.usda.gov/) network, a former Long-Term Ecological Research station (LTER, 1983-2012), and located in the shortgrass steppe of north-central Colorado, USA. Additional information and referenced materials about many of the long-term studies initiated on the CPER can be found: https://dx.doi.org/10.25675/10217/81141.
The topography at the CPER is characterized by gently rolling hills, and the topographic positions for data collection were focused along a catena in one of the most common ecological sites on the CPER, Loamy Plains (ID: R067BY002CO; NRCS, 2020). The plant community included four herbaceous plant functional types (PFTs): 1) perennial, warm-season, C4 grasses (primarily Bouteloua gracilis [Willd. ex Kunth] Lag ex Griffiths and B. dactyloides [Nutt.] J.T. Columbus), 2) perennial, cool-season, C3 grasses (primarily Pascopyrum smithii [Rydb] A. Love and Hesperostipa comata [Trin. & Rupr.] Barkworth ssp. comata), 3) cool-season, annual grass (Vulpia octoflora [Walter] Rydb.), and 4) forbs (primarily Sphaeralcea coccinea [Nutt.] Rydb.). Shrubs, subshrubs, and cactus were present but do not represent a large component of total ANPP and were not included in this study.
Daily precipitation data were obtained from a long-term (1979-2018) precipitation gauge associated with the National Atmospheric Deposition program (Site ID: NTN-CO22; http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/), located on site. Missing precipitation data were gap-filled using CPER headquarters data (1939-2018), or from the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) rain gauge (1997-2018, Site Number: 2017; https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/), depending on proximity and temporal overlap. Following gap-filling, precipitation data were omitted if >10% of the time series was missing for each focal time period (e.g. fall or spring).
Resources in this dataset:
Resource Title: Gap filled precipitation data from the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado from 1980-2018.
File Name: CPER-PPT_gapfilled_1980-2018.csv
Resource Title: Data Dictionary for Gap filled precipitation data from the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado from 1980-2018.
File Name: CPER-PPT_DataDictionary.csv
Resource Title: Long-Term aboveground net primary production for functional group types on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado from 1983-2018.
File Name: CPER-LTNPP_bypft_1983-2018.csv
Resource Title: Data Dictionary for Long-Term aboveground net primary production for functional group types on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado from 1983-2018.
File Name: CPER-LTNPP_bypft_1983-2018_DataDictionary.csv
Resource Title: Dictionary of species within each functional group type in the LTNPP data collected on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado from 1983-2018.
File Name: CPER-LTNPP_bypft_1983-2018_SppInFG_DataDictionary.csv
Funding
USDA-ARS: 3012-21610-001-00D
National Science Foundation: DEB-0217631, 0823405
History
Data contact name
Hoover, DavidData contact email
David.Hoover@usda.govPublisher
Ag Data CommonsIntended use
For producers and land managers to sustainably manage large parcels spanning varied topography, it is important to understand how topographic position influences the sensitivity of ANPP to precipitation amount and pattern. In this study, we examined a long-term (36-year) ANPP data set across three topographic positions (ridge, slope, and swale) in the shortgrass steppe to better understand the responses of four dominant plant functional types (PFTs) to variation in precipitation patterns and amounts. We examined the following questions: 1. How does ANPP vary by topographic position, and how is that variability influenced by plant functional type? 2. How does current year precipitation amount and pattern (e.g. total, number of events) influence ANPP by topographic position? 3. How do biotic and precipitation legacies (e.g. previous year ANPP, fall precipitation) influence ANPP by topographic position?Temporal Extent Start Date
1983-01-01Temporal Extent End Date
2018-08-31Theme
- Not specified
Geographic Coverage
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[{"geometry":{"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-104.78828434367,40.769862287053],[-104.78828434367,40.89870286178],[-104.62843325688,40.89870286178],[-104.62843325688,40.769862287053],[-104.78828434367,40.769862287053]]]},"type":"Feature","properties":{}}]}Geographic location - description
Central Plains Experimental Range is a ~6400 ha Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network site in northeast Colorado, USA (40˚50’N, 104˚43’W, 1645 m above sea level))ISO Topic Category
- climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
- environment
Ag Data Commons Group
- Central Plains Experimental Range
National Agricultural Library Thesaurus terms
topography; Colorado; net primary productivity; data collection; steppes; spatial variation; temporal variation; Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network; hills; catenas; ecosystems; plant communities; herbaceous plants; warm season; C4 plants; grasses; Bouteloua gracilis; Bouteloua dactyloides; cold season; C3 plants; Pascopyrum smithii; Hesperostipa comata; annuals; Vulpia; forbs; Sphaeralcea coccinea; shrubs; cacti and succulents; atmospheric precipitation; atmospheric deposition; soil; climate; rain gauges; time series analysis; autumn; springOMB Bureau Code
- 005:18 - Agricultural Research Service
OMB Program Code
- 005:040 - National Research
ARS National Program Number
- 215
Primary article PubAg Handle
Pending citation
- No
Public Access Level
- Public