PTAG

plot code, BEF research plot name, 6 digits with "p" in front; Datagroup description: Research plots of the Biodiversity - Ecosystem functioning experiment (BEF-China). There are three main sites for research plots in the BEF Experiment: Comparative Study Plots (CSP) in the Gutianshan Nature Reserve, having a size of 30x30m^2, measured on the ground. Main Experiment plots have a size of 1 mu, which is about 25x25m^2 in horizontal projection. Pilot Study Plots have a size of 1x1 m^2. 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 B. 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.; Datagroup description: Reasearch plots of the Biodiversity - Ecosystem functioning experiment (BEF-China). There are three main sites for research plots in the BEF Experiment: Comparative Study Plots (CSP) in the Gutianshan Nature Reserve, having a size of 30x30m^2, measured on the ground. Main Experiment plots have a size of 1 mu, which is about 25x25m^2 in horizontal projection. Pilot Study Plots have a size of 1x1 m^2. 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.

BEF research plot name

Main Experiment, Site B

PLOT_NO

name of each plot, coded with letters and numbers

Plot name (letter, number code)

Main Experiment, Site B

TRTM_SUB

including the number of the 1 mu plot within a 4 mu plot

Numeric treatment acronyms for the main experiment

extinction treatment, Main Experiment, Site B

TRTM_NO2

treatment acronym in experimental sites

Treatment acronym in experimental sites

extinction treatment, Main Experiment, Site B

TREE_R

planned tree species richness according to design, taxonomic biodiversity; Datagroup description: Taxon diversity can be given as species richness, or other diversity indices. We also use rarefied species richness, shannon diversity index, and phylogenetic diversity indices. Rarefaction curves show the increase in species number with an increase of sampled individuals. R uses rarefy() from the package vegan to estimated species number for a given number of individuals. To compare different plots, the number of individuals should be smaller than the minimum number of individuals. -- The Shannon diversity is given by H = -sum (p_i log(p_i)), p_i is the relative abundance of the ith species. R provides this through the vegan package: diversity(x). -- The Simpson diversity is given by D = sum p_i^2, with p_i representing the relative abundance of the ith species. R provides this through the vegan package: diversity(x, index="simpson") -- Trees were counted when they exceeded 1m height. This data is aggregated from the raw data provided by Martin Böhnke and Martin Baruffol; in R with vegan: specnumber() -- Eveness as defined by Ricotta, C. A semantic taxonomy for diversity measures Acta Biotheoretica, 2007, 55, 23-33: shannon/log(rich) -- Phylogenetic diversity is calculated using Rao's Q. This is basically the mean distance of all pairswise distances between individuals in phylogenetic space. I used genus and family name to calculate phylogenetic distances between species. R provides Rao's Q and tools for calculating phylogenetic distances in the package ade4. Commands: as.taxo(), divc().

count

Taxonomic biodiversity

biodiversity, Main Experiment, Site B

SHRU_R

planned shrub species richness according to design, taxonomic biodiversity; Datagroup description: Taxon diversity can be given as species richness, or other diversity indices. We also use rarefied species richness, shannon diversity index, and phylogenetic diversity indices. Rarefaction curves show the increase in species number with an increase of sampled individuals. R uses rarefy() from the package vegan to estimated species number for a given number of individuals. To compare different plots, the number of individuals should be smaller than the minimum number of individuals. -- The Shannon diversity is given by H = -sum (p_i log(p_i)), p_i is the relative abundance of the ith species. R provides this through the vegan package: diversity(x). -- The Simpson diversity is given by D = sum p_i^2, with p_i representing the relative abundance of the ith species. R provides this through the vegan package: diversity(x, index="simpson") -- Trees were counted when they exceeded 1m height. This data is aggregated from the raw data provided by Martin Böhnke and Martin Baruffol; in R with vegan: specnumber() -- Eveness as defined by Ricotta, C. A semantic taxonomy for diversity measures Acta Biotheoretica, 2007, 55, 23-33: shannon/log(rich) -- Phylogenetic diversity is calculated using Rao's Q. This is basically the mean distance of all pairswise distances between individuals in phylogenetic space. I used genus and family name to calculate phylogenetic distances between species. R provides Rao's Q and tools for calculating phylogenetic distances in the package ade4. Commands: as.taxo(), divc().

count

Taxonomic biodiversity

biodiversity, Main Experiment, Site B

Extinction

extinction series type within the main experiment

Extinction series type within main experiment.

extinction treatment, Main Experiment, Site B

TREE_CMP

tree species composition according to design; Datagroup description: Helper column to understand other columns in this data set.

Helper

species, Main Experiment, Site B

SHRU_CMP

shrub species composition according to design; Datagroup description: Helper column to understand other columns in this data set.

Helper

species, Main Experiment, Site B

MU

indicating the presence of a plot within a 4 mu plot by the number 4, of self contained within a 1 species plot with the number 1, or a partly filled plot, quarter or less, with 0.25

Plot randomization level in terms of belonging to Extinction series

VIP plots, Main Experiment, Site B

Vip

VIP plots are the plots without shrubs in the 4 mu plots, which are replicated

VIP plot indication

VIP plots, Main Experiment, Site B

X_DD

longitude of plot south west corner, based on the 5m interpolation

decimal degree

Longitude

GIS, longitude, Main Experiment, Site B

Y_DD

latitude of plot south west corner, based on the 5m interpolation; Datagroup description: "The latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator" (Wikipedia).

decimal degree

Latitude

GIS, latitude, Main Experiment, Site B

ALTITUDE

elevation (from interpolated raster); Datagroup description: Elevation above sea level. Altitude.

meter

Elevation

GIS, elevation, Main Experiment, Site B

EASTNESS

easterly aspect (from aspect of interpolated raster); Datagroup description: Eastness was converted from the aspects of 0°-360°, where 0° and 360° = north and 180° = south, into values between -1 and 1, where -1 = west and 1 = east. High values are oriented more easterly than low values.

Aspect

GIS, aspect, eastness, Main Experiment, Site B

NORTHNESS

northerly aspect (from aspect of interpolated raster); Datagroup description: Northness was converted from the aspects of 0°-360°, where 0° and 360° = north and 180° = south, into values between -1 and 1, where -1 = south and 1 = north. High values are oriented more northerly than low values.

Aspect

GIS, aspect, northness, Main Experiment, Site B

SLOPE

slope (from interpolated raster); Datagroup description: Inclination "is the angular distance of the orbital plane from the plane of reference (usually the primary's equator or the ecliptic), normally stated in degrees" (Wikipedia). Also referred to as 'slope'.

degree

Inclination

GIS, inclination, Main Experiment, Site B

SOLAR

solar radiation (from interpolated raster); Datagroup description: Solar radiation.

kWh/m²

Solar radiation

GIS, solar radiation, Main Experiment, Site B

CURV_PR

profile curvature (from interpolated raster); convex (+) / concave(-)

Profile curvature

GIS, Main Experiment, Site B, curvature

CURV_PL

plan curvature (from interpolated raster); convex (+) / concave(-)

Planar curvature

GIS, Main Experiment, Site B, curvature

REMARKS

remarks mostly concerning planting; Datagroup description: Helper column to understand other columns in this data set.

Helper