Harvard Forest

Data Archive

HF181

Regional and Historical Variation in Garlic Mustard Distribution in Western Massachusetts 2006-2007

Related Publications

Data

• hf181-01: garlic mustard ecoregion (preview)

Overview

• Lead: Kristina Stinson
• Investigators: Dunbar Carpenter, Alexandra Mushegian
• Contact: Information Manager
• Start date: 2006
• End date: 2007
• Status: complete
• Location: Western Massachusetts
• Latitude: +42.0 to +42.7 degrees
• Longitude: -73.4 to -72.3 degrees
• Elevation:
• Datum: WGS84
• Taxa: Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
• Release date: 2023
• Language: English
• EML file: knb-lter-hfr.181.8
• DOI: digital object identifier
• EDI: data package
• DataONE: data package
• Related links:
• 1830 Map of Land Cover and Cultural Features in Massachusetts
• Invasive Species Mapping at Harvard Forest 2005
• Study type: short-term measurement
• Research topic: invasive plants, pests and pathogens
• LTER core area: population studies
• Keywords: history, invasive species, land use, population dynamics
• Abstract:

  The susceptibility of a site to invasion by nonnative species depends on its current ecological features and its historical land use. Certain environments might be more conducive to an invasive plant’s success, and several recent studies have shown that former agricultural sites are more susceptible to invasion than sites that have been continuously wooded. We studied the invasive herb garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), at roadside forested edges. Site selection was stratified by two regions with distinct ecological characteristics (the Connecticut River Valley and the Berkshire Valley in Massachusetts), and two historical land uses (wooded versus cleared in 1830).

• Methods:

  We recorded the presence and absence of garlic mustard at random selected roadside forest edges. We also searched for garlic mustard in a 100 x 25 m understory area adjacent to the forest edge. Sites were surveyed in 2006 and 2007.

• Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

• Project: 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. (ROR).

• Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

• Use: 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.

• License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

• Citation: Stinson K. 2023. Regional and Historical Variation in Garlic Mustard Distribution in Western Massachusetts 2006-2007. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF181 (v.8). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/6f2ccc4a868889342384b362dd995527.

Detailed Metadata

hf181-01: garlic mustard ecoregion

1. site: arbitrary site ID assigned to each site
2. occur.edge: presence or absence of garlic mustard on roadside forest edge
   • 0: absent
   • 1: present
3. incur.distance: distance of garlic mustard incursion into the understory (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
4. incur.understory: presence or absence of garlic mustard incursion into understory if garlic mustard occurred on forest edge
   • 0: absent
   • 1: present
5. other.inv: presence or absence of invasive plants other than garlic mustard
   • 0: absent
   • 1: present
6. dist.recent: presence or absence of recent or continual disturbance. Includes things like dumping, edge maintenance, canopy gaps, recent thinning/cutting (i.e. new stumps), trails and other signs of recent or ongoing disturbance
   • 0: absent
   • 1: present
7. dist.past: presence or absence of past disturbance based on evidence such as stone walls, even-aged stand structure, old stumps, abandoned roads, abandoned structures, and other signs of past land use
   • 0: absence
   • 1: present
8. hydro: presence or absence of hydrological features involving moving water including streams, rivers, ditches, channels, ponds, reservoirs, lakes, and culverts, but not including the likes of wetlands, vernal pools, or hydric soils
   • 0: absent
   • 1: present
9. lulc1830: land use cover from 1830 forest cover GIS layer
   • 1: open
   • 0: wooded
10. ecoreg: ecoregion
    • BV: Berkshire Valley
    • CV: CT River Valley
11. elev: elevation (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
12. lat: latitude (UTM) (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
13. lon: longitude (UTM) (unit: meter / missing value: NA)