uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
all
public
read
doi:10.6073/pasta/07cf5acd0d0f6c824f6ae457aeb211fe
Litterfall at Harvard Forest HEM and LPH Towers since 2002
David
Orwig
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7822-3560
Julian
Hadley
Greta
VanScoy
Researcher
2024
English
We measure the dry mass and estimated carbon content of leaves and fine twigs that abscise each year. These data are used to quantify one component of annual net primary productivity (ANPP), an important measure of ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling. Leaf area index (LAI) can also be estimated from these data, if area-to-mass ratios are calculated for leaves of each species. This was done for 2002 and 2003 leaf litterfall at the Little Prospect Hill (LPH) site. The fraction of total leaf mass or estimated total leaf area that is formed by leaves of each species also shows the species composition of the forest canopy. If repeated over many years, these data can indicate whether the forest canopy species composition is changing over time.
carbon cycling
leaf litter
net primary production
LTER controlled vocabulary
primary production
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=hf151
Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum.
-72.185
-72.180
+42.542
+42.539
355
380
meter
2002
2021
ongoing
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
Laundry baskets varying from about 40 to 45 cm across were placed in within circular plots in the footprints of the Little Prospect Hill and Hemlock eddy flux towers, in October 2002 for the Little Prospect Hill flux tower site and in October 2004 for the Harvard Forest Hemlock flux tower site. Baskets were placed in 36 plots at the Little Prospect Hill site and 12 plots at the Hemlock site. For a description of the number and locations of these circular plots, please see HF149. The baskets remain in the forest throughout the year and all leaves and fallen twigs are collected each year in November, after completion of the major period of leaf abscission for both deciduous and hemlock-dominated forests. Quarterly (or thrice-yearly) collections of litter began for the Hemlock forest in 2012, and litter collections ceased at the Little Prospect Hill site after 2010. The leaf litter is sorted by species, dried at 70 degrees Celsius for two days or longer, and weighed. Twigs, acorns, seed cones, and pieces of litter too small to be identified by species are also separated, dried at 70 degrees Celsius and weighed. Starting in 2020, acorns were lumped in with all other seeds.
The total dry masses of leaves and other fallen litter are divided by the cross-sectional area of the mouth of each litter basket to obtain values of mass per unit area. For 2002 and 2003 measurements at Little Prospect Hill, the estimated area of leaves of each species in each litter basket were also divided by the cross-sectional area of the mouth of each litter basket to obtain leaf area per unit ground area, which is leaf area index (LAI).
Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research
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.
hf151-01-hem-litterfall.csv
Hemlock litterfall
hf151-01-hem-litterfall.csv
118051
a26c957fc06accf3f8efa9be5c73920d
1
\r\n
column
,
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p15/hf151/hf151-01-hem-litterfall.csv
year
year
YYYY
month
month of collection. Litter was collected once each year from 2006-2011, and quarterly starting in 2012.
month
dist
distance from tower
meter
1
whole
NA
missing value
trans
compass direction from Hemlock tower from geographic north
degree
1
whole
NA
missing value
species
species (4-letter abbreviation) or other ID
ACORNS
acorns
ACPE
Acer pensylvanicum
ACRU
Acer rubrum
BELE/BEAL
Betula lenta and B. alleghaniensis
BEPA
Betula papyrifera
CADE
Castanea dentata
CONES
cones
FAGR
Fagus grandifolia
FERN
fern
FRAM
Fraxinus americana
HAVI
Hamamelis virginiana
MISC
miscellaneous
MOSS
moss
NA
missing value
NYSY
Nyssa sylvatica
OTHER DECID
other deciduous
PICEA
Picea
PIRE
Pinus resinosa
PIST
Pinus strobus
POTR
Populus tremuloides
QUAL
Quercus alba
QUAL/QURU
Quercus alba/Quercus rubra
QURU
Quercus rubra
SEEDS
seeds
SHRUB
shrub
TSCA
Tsuga canadensis
UNK
unknown
VACO
Vaccinium corymbosum
WOODY
woody
WOODY REPRO
woody; reproductive
NA
missing value
tot.wt
total weight
gram
0.001
real
NA
missing value
bask.area
area of opening of litter basket
squareCentimeters
1
natural
NA
missing value
notes
notes
notes
NA
missing value
3094
hf151-02-lph-litterfall.csv
Little Prospect Hill litterfall
hf151-02-lph-litterfall.csv
89766
2009a580bae9a15eb20a21aa7fbf63f7
1
\r\n
column
,
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p15/hf151/hf151-02-lph-litterfall.csv
year
year
YYYY
dist
distance from tower
meter
1
whole
NA
missing value
trans
compass direction from LPH tower from geographic north
degree
1
whole
NA
missing value
species
species (4-letter abbreviation) or other ID
species (4-letter abbreviation) or other ID
subsamp.wt
weight of subsample
gram
0.001
real
NA
missing value
tot.wt
total weight
gram
0.001
real
NA
missing value
sample.la
sample leaf area
squareCentimeters
0.01
real
NA
missing value
bask.area
area of opening of litter basket
squareCentimeters
1
natural
NA
missing value
2323
plot
long-term measurement
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf069
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf149