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Environmental and plant community composition and functional trait data across peatlands of the Forest Dynamics Plot at Scotty Creek, NT.
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Standen, Katherine M.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2021-06-11 This is the final dataset associated with the publication, “Permafrost condition determines plant community composition and community-level foliar functional traits in a boreal peatland”, submitted to <i>Ecology and Evolution</i> in April 2021. Included are three data files: the plant community composition dataset, the associated environmental variables dataset, and the plant functional trait dataset. Combined, the community composition and trait datasets were used to calculate the community-weighted means presented in the manuscript. <p><p> These data explored how plant community composition and traits change across the Scotty Creek Forest Dynamics plot in response to environmental variation, including active layer thickness, organic layer thickness, and forest structure (i.e., canopy cover and tree basal area). To do this, we used a random stratified design to select ten 20 m by 20 m grid cells belonging to each of four aboveground tree biomass categories for a total of 40 grid cells across the Scotty Creek Forest Dynamics Plot. Within each grid cell, we randomly placed two 1 m by 1m quadrats to assess community composition of vascular plants via stem counts and measure canopy cover, active and organic layer thickness. These data were averaged to provide an estimate at the grid cell level. Basal area was calculated at the level of the grid cell. Plant functional traits were collected from 3 replicate individuals per species within 2-3 grid cells per aboveground tree biomass category. See <a href=" https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7818">Standen and Baltzer (2021)</a> for more detailed methods.
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Data for: Permafrost thaw induces short term increase in vegetation productivity in northwestern Canada
Borealis
Ogden, Emily; Cumming, Steven G.; Smith, Sharon L.; Turetsky, Merritt; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2023-06-20 This dataset contains active layer thickness and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data for 135 permafrost monitoring sites located across a 10° latitudinal transect of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Included are two .csv files that contain the yearly active layer thickness and NDVI values for each site and the rate of change through time for both of those variables at each site. The rates of change were divided into early and late time periods (Early, 1984 to 2000; Late, 2001 to 2019). Additional site characteristics and climatic variables are included in the data files. Active layer thickness data was derived from ground thermal and thaw tube data that was collected by the Geological Survey of Canada across the network of permafrost monitoring sites. An R script outlining the statistical analyses for the publication “Permafrost thaw induces short term increase in vegetation productivity in the northwestern Arctic-Boreal” is included, as well as a text file which includes the code used to calculate NDVI from a collection of Landsat images processed in Google Earth Engine.
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Data For: The Influence of Post-Fire Recovery and Environmental Conditions on Boreal Vegetation
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Jorgensen, Alexis; Alfaro-Sánchez, Raquel; Cumming, Steven G.; White, Alison L.; Degré-Timmons, Geneviève É.; Day, Nicola J.; Turetsky, Merritt; Johnstone, Jill F.; Walker, Xanthe J.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2023-06-01 This data was gathered to explore patterns of vegetation recovery after fire in the boreal forests of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Vegetation and environmental data was collected from a chronosequence of sampling sites ranging from one to 275 years after fire covering both the Taiga Shield and Taiga Plains Ecoregions.<p><p> The dataset is comprised of three data sheets:<p> <ol type="1"> <li> Jorgensen et al_SpeciesRelativeAbundance includes presence and absence data per plot for a selection of vascular plant and lichen species, as well as associated environmental variables and site information. Each species has a "presence" column and an "absence" column, adding to five, indicating the number of quadrats per plot where the species was found. </li> <li> Jorgensen et al_VegetationCommunityComposition includes abundance indices (from 1-5) per plot for all vascular and non-vascular species used in manuscript ordinations (excluded: species present in only one plot, species causing anomalies - see manuscript for more information). </li> <li> Jorgensen et al_SeedlingSaplingCounts includes counts of the number of seedlings and saplings <1.3m tall per sampling plot for black spruce (Picea mariana), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). </li>
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Data for: Evidence for unexpected net permafrost aggradation driven by local hydrology and climatic triggers
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Sniderhan, Anastasia; Spence, Christopher; Kokelj, Steve V.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2023-10-12 This dataset supports a journal article on land cover and permafrost change in the Baker Creek watershed, a discontinuous permafrost landscape in the Northwest Territories, Canada. We quantified changes in land cover type using 1972 aerial photographs and 2017 satellite imagery. An intensive field campaign in 2019 allowed us to collect field data on thickness of the soil organic layer and permafrost presence/absence that supported strong associations between land cover change and changes in permafrost extent, allowing us to infer permafrost change from land cover transitions observed in imagery. We calculated mean flow accumulation for each area where land cover change/permafrost was quantified to look at the relationships between local hydrology and permafrost change. We also collected topographical data derived from a digital elevation model which was used to predict land cover transitions.
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Data for "Greater variation in boreal plant community composition and community-level traits at local- than regional-scale"
Borealis
Standen, Katherine M.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2023-09-18 This is the final dataset associated with the publication, “Greater variation in boreal plant community composition and community-level traits at local- than regional-scale”, published in the <i>Journal of Vegetation Science</i> (2023). This dataset includes three primary files: <p><ul> <li>the plant community composition dataset</li> <li>the associated environmental variables dataset</li> <li>the plant functional trait dataset</li> </ul><p> A fourth file containing geospatial reference data for the four study sites is also included.<p> Combined, the community composition and trait datasets were used to calculate the community-weighted means presented in the manuscript. These data explored how plant community composition and traits change across the latitudinal extent of the boreal biome of western North America, from central Saskatchewan to the northern treeline near Inuvik, NT. <p> In this study, we selected four boreal peatlands sites and within each site, sampled across dominant topoedaphic and/or hydrologic gradients to explore variation both within sites (local-scale) and among sites (regional-scale). At each site, we stratified sample collection by dominant landscape features across each gradient, and we randomly placed two or more 1m by 1m quadrats to assess community composition of vascular plants via stem counts and measure canopy cover, active and organic layer thickness. At three sites (Southern Old Black Spruce, Key Pile Camp, and Havipak Creek) we placed a total of 20 quadrats and, due to an intensive study at Scotty Creek Research Station (see <a href="https://doi.org/10.5683/SP2/R4FTPW">Standen and Baltzer 2021</a>), we placed 80 quadrats. Within each dominant landscape feature at each site, we collected functional trait data on at least 3 replicates of each abundant species. We explored patterns of community weighted mean functional traits pertaining to carbon exchange and community composition of both vascular plants and bryophyte communities and determined whether interspecific or intraspecific trait variation were driving changes within and across these sites. See <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13206">Standen and Baltzer (2023)</a> for more detailed methods.
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Data for: Response of boreal plant communities and forest floor carbon fluxes to experimental nutrient additions
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Standen, Katherine M.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2024-02-14 This is the final dataset for the publication <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00899-1">"Response of boreal plant communities and forest floor carbon fluxes to experimental nutrient additions"</a> published in the peer-reviewed journal <i>Ecosystems</i> in 2024. This dataset includes three primary files:<ol><p> <li>the plant community composition data</li> <li>the plant functional trait data</li> <li>the forest floor carbon flux and associated environmental variables data.</li> </ol> Combined, the plant community composition data and plant functional trait data were used to calculate the community-weighted mean traits presented in the manuscript. These data explored changes in community-weighted mean traits of both moss and understory vascular plant communities as well as forest floor carbon flux with nutrient fertilization emulating nutrient increases following permafrost thaw in a boreal peatland (Scotty Creek Research Station, NT: 61°18′ N, 121°,18′ W). We had two sites in this boreal peatland: one with high canopy cover, and one with low canopy cover. <p><p> We conducted an experiment whereby we set up 25, 0.5 m^2 quadrats at two sites within a boreal peatland (50 total quadrats). We had five different nutrient treatments with five replicates each: an unmanipulated control (no fertilizer or mechanical disturbance), a manipulated control (no fertilizer, with mechanical disturbance similar to the fertilized treatments), shallow fertilization (nutrient added at 20cm soil depth emulating increasing microbial mineralization with warming soil), deep fertilization (nutrient added at 40 cm soil depth emulating release of previously frozen nutrient-rich soil to the active layer), and shallow + deep fertilization (emulating both the shallow and deep treatments simultaneously). 12-4-8 NPK MiracleGro slow-release fertilizer was applied at a dosage of 6 g N m-2. This value is roughly four times that of the predicted maximum rate of increase in N from rising soil temperature and permafrost thaw (e.g., 1.3 g N m-2 yr-1; Keuper and others 2012, <i>Global Change Biology</i> 18: 1998) but is similar to Keuper and others (2017, <i>Global Change Biology</i> 23: 4257). Furthermore, being slow-release fertilizer, we expected slow nutrient release over the two-year experiment, mimicking natural conditions. The two sites whereby we set up the experiment differed in canopy cover and therefore allowed us to test if light availability effected the response of carbon fluxes and plant communities to nutrient increases. See (link to paper) for more detailed methodology.
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Environmental and plant community composition and functional trait data across peatlands of the Forest Dynamics Plot at Scotty Creek, NT.
Borealis
Standen, Katherine M.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2021-06-11 This is the final dataset associated with the publication, “Permafrost condition determines plant community composition and community-level foliar functional traits in a boreal peatland”, submitted to <i>Ecology and Evolution</i> in April 2021. Included are three data files: the plant community composition dataset, the associated environmental variables dataset, and the plant functional trait dataset. Combined, the community composition and trait datasets were used to calculate the community-weighted means presented in the manuscript. <p><p> These data explored how plant community composition and traits change across the Scotty Creek Forest Dynamics plot in response to environmental variation, including active layer thickness, organic layer thickness, and forest structure (i.e., canopy cover and tree basal area). To do this, we used a random stratified design to select ten 20 m by 20 m grid cells belonging to each of four aboveground tree biomass categories for a total of 40 grid cells across the Scotty Creek Forest Dynamics Plot. Within each grid cell, we randomly placed two 1 m by 1m quadrats to assess community composition of vascular plants via stem counts and measure canopy cover, active and organic layer thickness. These data were averaged to provide an estimate at the grid cell level. Basal area was calculated at the level of the grid cell. Plant functional traits were collected from 3 replicate individuals per species within 2-3 grid cells per aboveground tree biomass category. See <a href=" https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7818">Standen and Baltzer (2021)</a> for more detailed methods.
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Green alder ecophysiological data and shrub patch environmental data, Trail Valley Creek, NT
Borealis
Black, Katherine; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2021-04-01 At a low Arctic tundra site (Trail Valley Creek) near Inuvik, Northwest Territories, we measured stem sap flow, stem water potential, and productivity-related functional traits of green alder (Alnus alnobetula) and environmental predictors (water and nutrient availability and seasonal thaw depth) across a toposequence in green alder patches. These data were used to evaluate the role of topographic gradients on upland shrub productivity to understand potential constraints on tundra shrub expansion. Sampled patches of green alder spanned from the top of a hill to the bottom of a slope or drainage channel and were located on south to south-east facing slopes. Eight shrub patches were sampled in 2015 and three were more intensively studied in 2016.<br><br> For a detailed description of methods, please see Black et al. (2021) in <i>Related Publication</i>.
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Data for: Scale-dependent responses of understory vegetation to the physical structure of undisturbed tundra shrub patches
Borealis
Wallace, Cory A.; Baltzer, Jennifer L. — 2022-04-27 These data were collected in order to explore relationships between the physical structure of tundra shrubs and local vegetation and abiotic conditions. In order to do this we established 3 x 3 m sampling plots at the top, middle, and bottom of ten <i> Alnus alnobetula </i> (green alder) patches. All patches were situated on south-southeast facing hillslopes within 2 km of the Tail Valley Creek Research Station. Within each of these plots we selected two sub-plots for vegetation community composition. We also measured several abiotic variables within 50 cm of each 3 x 3 m plot. At each patch a 9 m belt was established from 13 m above the top edge to at least 12 m below the bottom edge, encompassing all 3 x 3 m sampling plots. Within this belt we mapped the relative location of all mature alder individuals and recorded their height and canopy width. These data were used to derive the structural data associated with each sampling plot and the data used for analysis of topographic trends in structural characteristics.

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