uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org all public read doi:10.6073/pasta/92077ae9b05ea88b1c7eba54295cb07b Timothy Sipe Richard Bowden Charles McClaugherty https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5884-0756 Dax Bennett Researcher Rachel Clark Researcher Jessica Rigelman Researcher 2023 English

Patterns of vascular plant species richness were investigated in six land use legacy sites (2 formerly plowed, 2 formerly pastured, and 2 permanent woodlot) in Prospect Hill to test predictions about the effects of disturbance, light and soil resources, and forest floor environmental heterogeneity on community composition. The occurrence of vascular taxa was recorded in each of the 60 5 m x 5 m contiguous plots within the 30 m x 50 m permanently gridded study plot in each land use legacy site in June 1996. Identification was made to species in most cases. Woodlots showed higher average species richness at the site level (53) than either pastured (52 species) or plowed (49) sites. However woodlots also show greater spatial variation in richness at the 5 m x 5 m resolution than either the plowed or pastured sites (in that order) as represented by the range, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. Seasonally-averaged light levels at 50 cm are approximately twice as high in the plowed and pastured sites as in the woodlots, but the woodlots show significantly greater soil organic matter, carbon, nitrogen and water-holding capacity than the post-agricultural sites. These results suggest that soil resources may be more important than light in fostering higher herbaceous stratum richness. However, woodlot richness is also affected by the presence of taxa that are slow to re-colonize heavily disturbed sites (e.g., Epigaea repens) and to distinctive microsites that are less common in the plowed or pastured sites in the Harvard Forest system (e.g., exposed boulders). The greater spatial variation in woodlot richness is strongly influenced by both substrate diversity and by scattered hemlock trees, which substantially depress the herb stratum in localized patches.

community composition herbs land use species diversity species richness LTER controlled vocabulary populations disturbance human-environment LTER core area Harvard Forest HFR LTER USA HFR default

This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html CC0-1.0 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf142 Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum. -72.20 -72.17 +42.55 +42.53 335 357 meter 1996 1996 complete Information Manager Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu

Plot locations: Plow #1 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # III, southern end. Plow #2 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # III, southern end. Pasture #1 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # I, southeastern edge. Pasture #2 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VIII, central edge. Woodlot #1 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VIII, northeastern edge. Woodlot #2 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VII, central.

Harvard Forest

324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA

(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu https://ror.org/059cpzx98 pointOfContact The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210. hf142-01-composition.csv community composition hf142-01-composition.csv 914392 40beb763cba6aaaf9975364288206172 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p14/hf142/hf142-01-composition.csv site site P1 Plow 1 P2 Plow 2 S1 Pasture 1 S2 Pasture 2 W1 Woodlot 1 W2 Woodlot 2 plot plot number. The 5 m x 5 m plots were numbered 1 through 60 from left to right and top to bottom in each grid. plot number species species name for all taxa encountered in the study species name presence presence/absence for each taxon per plot per site 1 present 0 absent 33840 hf142-02-species-list.csv species list hf142-02-species-list.csv 3201 6a7da262cfab77a547834d6dee9af50b 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p14/hf142/hf142-02-species-list.csv scientific.name scientific name scientific name common.name common name common name 94 historical plot community short-term measurement https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf133 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf134 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf135 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf136 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf137 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf138 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf139 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf140 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf141 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf143 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf144