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Title:
Main Experiment: Removal experiment - harvest response variables 2012 (VIPs)
Access rights:
Free within projects
Usage rights:
BEF-China: SP11 internal
Published:
No information available
Abstract:
SP 11 studied the interaction between tree layer diversity and herb layer diversity in highly diverse subtropical forests. Apart from species richness alone, a high functional diversity of resident communities influences ecosystem functioning. Effects of functional group losses in herb layer communities of the Main Experiment were studied by species removal. Removing species or functional groups allows studying within-community (biomass) compensation and effects on the tree individuals. We applied a functional group removal experiment in the Main experiment in which most dominant functional groups (herbs, grasses, ferns and woody weeds) were experimentally removed by selective weeding. By comparing the removal subplots with control plots containing the entire suite of species, we assess the role of functional groups for herb layer feedback effects on young trees and for evaluating community responses to such a loss at the same time.
Design:
The removal experiment was established on Site A and B in June 2011 and was conducted within each 32 plots on Site A and on Site B, thus representing the full tree diversity gradient of the Main Experiment, including the tree diversity levels one (n = 16), two (n = 8), four (n = 4) eight (n = 2), 16 (n =1) and 24 (n = 1) at both sites. Within the northern four rows of each plot, five subplots (5 m × 5 m) containing each 16 trees, were established in June 2011 and randomly assigned to one of five removal treatments. Thus, the removal experiment was based on a total of 320 (2 × 32 × 5) subplots. Five levels of removal treatments were applied, i.e. woody species (W), fern species (F), grass species (G) and herbaceous species (H) were removed. One additional subplot served as a control without removal. The initial removal weeding was carried out in June 2011, where the aboveground biomass of each function group was entirely removed by selective cutting. Additional weeding took place in 2012, in June and September each, and in June 2013. The dry weight of the removed aboveground biomass was determined subsequent to the weeding campaigns. In August 2012, a vegetati+A30on monitoring was conducted for all 320 subplots. In September 2012, a subsample of each subplot was harvested for productivity assessment. In VIPs of 1- and 2-species mixtures, the total aboveground biomass was harvested within each of the removal subplots as a pooled sample of three 0.5 m × 0.5 m replicates and separated by functional group: fern, grass, woody species and herbs. In VIPs of 4-, 8- 16- and 24-species mixtures, five replicates were harvested and pooled by subplot.
Spatial extent:
Main experiment, Site A, Site B, no shrub VIPs
Temporal extent:
Initial weeding of removal treatments was performed in June 2011
Taxonomic extent:
No information available
Measurement cirumstances:
No information available
Data analysis:
For each subplot, the coverage, maximum and mean height of each functional group is given; for details see data group description.

Filter:
Dataset column

Name:
PTAG
Definition:
Research plots on the main experiment have a "p" in front of their IDs and then a 6 digit code: Plots in the main sites A and B are named according to their position in the original spreadsheet, in which they were designed. They consist of 6 digits: _1st digit_: Site (1:A, 2:B), _digit 2and3_: southwards row: as in spreadsheets the rows are named from the top to the bottom; _digit 4 and 5_: westward column: as in the original spreadsheet, but the letters are converted to numbers (A=01, B=02); _6th digit_: indicator, if the plot has been shifted a quarter mu. Example: "p205260": "p" means that this is a plot that is specified. "2" means, that we are at site B. Now the coordinates of the south - west corner: "0526". Since "e" is the fifth letter of the alphabet, this is Plot E26. The last digit "0" means that this plot was not moved by a quarter of a Mu, as some sites in Site A. The 6th digit can also indicate the subplot within the plot. "5", "6", "7", "8" indicate the northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest quarter plot respectively.
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
BEF research plot name
Keywords:
VIP plots
Values:
p106210
p105310
p105330
p105340
p103320
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Plot
Definition:
Plotnumber on Site A and B; 32 VIP plots with no shrub treatment;
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Helper
Keywords:
plot
Values:
E31
E33
E34
C32
D29
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
treatment
Definition:
removal treatment: c= control, without removal; W= removal of woody species; F = removal of fern species; H= removal of herbaceous species; G= removal of grass species
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Treatment
Keywords:
experimental treatment, removal experiment
Values:
g
f
h
c
w
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
tree_diversity
Definition:
tree diversity
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Taxonomic biodiversity
Keywords:
Diversity level
Values:
2
4
16
1
24
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
Site
Definition:
Site on Main experiment; Datagroup description: Site A or B
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Helper
Keywords:
Site A, Site B
Values:
A
B
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
date
Definition:
date; Datagroup description: mean date for the monitoring campaign, monitoring started 2012-08-04 and was finished 2012-08-28
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Date time information
Keywords:
date
Values:
2010-08-12
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
cover_w
Definition:
cover of woody species by subplot
Unit:
percent
Datagroup:
Cover of species
Keywords:
vegetation cover, woody species
Values:
10
16
0
14
15
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
cover_g
Definition:
cover of grass species by subplot; Datagroup description: cover of grass species by subplot
Unit:
percent
Datagroup:
Cover of species
Keywords:
vegetation cover, grass species
Values:
10
1
0
15
14
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
cover_f
Definition:
cover of fern species by subplot; Datagroup description: cover of fern species by subplot
Unit:
percent
Datagroup:
Cover of species
Keywords:
vegetation cover, fern species
Values:
0
15
12
1
10
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
cover_h
Definition:
cover of herbaceous species by subplot; Datagroup description: cover of herbaceous species by subplot
Unit:
percent
Datagroup:
Cover of species
Keywords:
herbs, vegetation cover
Values:
15
10
1
0
2
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
cover_total
Definition:
cover total by subplot; Datagroup description: cover total by subplot
Unit:
percent
Datagroup:
Cover of species
Keywords:
vegetation cover
Values:
101
100
0
105
131
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
maxheight_w
Definition:
maximum height of woody species by subplot; Datagroup description: maximum height of woody species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
total height, woody species
Values:
0.55
0.45
0.56
0.5
0
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
maxheight_g
Definition:
maximum height of of grass species by subplot; Datagroup description: maximum height of of grass species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
crown height, grass species
Values:
0.2
0.3
0
0.36
0.19
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
maxheight_f
Definition:
maximum height of fern species by subplot; Datagroup description: maximum height of fern species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
crown height, fern species
Values:
0.15
0.2
0.1
0
0.05
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
maxheight_h
Definition:
maximum height of herbaceous species by subplot; Datagroup description: maximum height of herbaceous species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
herbs, height
Values:
0.01
0.02
0
0.03
0.05
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
mheight_w
Definition:
mean height of woody species by subplot; Datagroup description: mean height of woody species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
crown height, woody species
Values:
0.35
0.3
0.26
0.2
0
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
mheight_g
Definition:
mean height of of grass species by subplot; Datagroup description: mean height of of grass species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
height, grass species
Values:
0
0.15
0.1
0.23
0.2
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
mheight_f
Definition:
mean height of fern species by subplot; Datagroup description: mean height of fern species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
height, fern species
Values:
0.05
0
0.12
0.1
0.15
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
mheight_h
Definition:
mean height of herbaceous species by subplot; Datagroup description: mean height of herbaceous species by subplot; Instrumentation: ruler
Unit:
centimeter
Datagroup:
Plant height
Keywords:
herbs, height
Values:
0.04
0.02
0
0.03
0.01
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMW_total
Definition:
aboveground biomass of woody species by subplot (25 m2)
Unit:
gram
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass, woody species
Values:
1022.9779
103.56
10.4052
1022.56
1038.96
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMG_total
Definition:
aboveground biomass of grass species by subplot (25 m2); Datagroup description: aboveground biomass of grass species by subplot (25 m2)
Unit:
gram
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass, grass species
Values:
1029.0476
0.8671
1000.9669
102.2511
1020.3766
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMF_total
Definition:
aboveground biomass of fern species by subplot (25 m2); Datagroup description: aboveground biomass of fern species by subplot (25 m2)
Unit:
gram
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass, fern species
Values:
1017.7086
1011.3721
0.1334
100.4502
1010.9719
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMH_total
Definition:
aboveground biomass of herbaceous species by subplot (25 m2); Datagroup description: aboveground biomass of herbaceous species by subplot (25 m2)
Unit:
gram
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
herbs, aboveground biomass
Values:
101.52
10.1384
0
101.6508
100.8504
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BM_total_total
Definition:
aboveground biomass total by subplot (25 m2); Datagroup description: aboveground biomass total by subplot (25 m2)
Unit:
gram
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass
Values:
1005.7026
1007.17
0
1010.3716
1000.4
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMW_total_m2
Definition:
BMW_total_m2 aboveground biomass of woody species per m2
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass, woody species
Values:
0.416208
0.4669
0.45356
0.864432
10.021008
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMG_total_m2
Definition:
BMG_total_m2 aboveground biomass of grass species per m2
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass, grass species
Values:
0.122728
0.034684
0.0416
0.357512
0.229448
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMF_total_m2
Definition:
BMF_total_m2 aboveground biomass of fern species per m2
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass, fern species
Values:
0.514924
0.565616
0.365516
0.482908
0.005336
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BMH_total_m2
Definition:
BMH_total_m2 aboveground biomass of herbaceous species per m2
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
herbs, aboveground biomass
Values:
0
0.101384
0.205436
0.189428
0.09338
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
BM_total_total_m2
Definition:
BM_total_total_m2
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Above and below ground biomass measurement
Keywords:
aboveground biomass
Values:
100.260772
100.901092
100.82372
101.629456
0
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
species_richness
Definition:
species richness; Datagroup description: total species richness of each subplot
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Taxonomic biodiversity
Keywords:
response variable, species diversity
Values:
12
11
13
15
14
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
RGR_d
Definition:
RGR_d relative growth rate of the mean diameter of the 16 trees by subplot for the time period 2011-09-2012-10
Unit:
No information available
Datagroup:
Relative growth rate
Keywords:
growth
Values:
-0.002825129
0
0.001037547
0.003081236
0.000925216
Contributors:
No information available

Dataset column

Name:
RGR_height
Definition:
RGR relative growth rate of the mean height of the 16 trees by subplot for the time period 2011-09-2012-10
Unit:
centimeterPerMonth
Datagroup:
Relative growth rate
Keywords:
growth, height
Values:
0.049785386
0.096596566
0.0798559
0.099305737
0.006175664
Contributors:
No information available

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22 erfmeier medium

Alexandra
Erfmeier

Owner of:
23 Datasets

Involved in:
3 Projects

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73 pohl medium

Ricarda
Pohl

Owner of:
9 Datasets

Involved in:
2 Projects

E-Mail Profile
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