A DATA SET is a series of observations collected by the same methodology. Each data set should have documentation sufficient for someone unfamiliar with the research to replicate the study. Data sets may be broken into subsets (data files) that are discrete in space and time, in that order. The documentation for a data set should include all spatial and temporal subdivisions of the data.

(Data, Abstract, Methods, Variables)

NOTES:

• Add rows to tables or lines to paraghaphs as you need them for entering your data.
• Contact emelendez@lternet.edu, if you have any question.

PERSON(S) COMPLETING THIS FORM: E-MAIL ADDRESS:

DATA SET IDENTIFIER: Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE plots

PROJECT TITLE: Fern Population Dynamics (Control of primary productivity along an elevational gradient–fern distribution)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Ferns are an important part of the understory of many tropic forests, yet nothing is known
about their leaf turnover rates, hence their contribution to the litter layer and overall functioning of the forest ecosystem. This long-term project addresses that question by marking and monitoring each leaf produced by over a thousand individuals representing over 20 different species. Plants and their leaves were observed at four month intervals for ten years starting in September 1991 (Phase 1) and then at one year intervals for an additional ten years starting in January 2001. Seasonality in leaf and spore production, as well as effects of drought and hurricanes are noted. Defoliation experiments with several species are being conducted to determine the limits of disturbance effects.

LTER CORE AREAS: (Annotate all that apply)

Primary Productivity

LEF LTER 1 RESEARCH TOPIC: (Annotate all that apply)

Nutrient enhancement effects

We define a data file as a component of a data set. A data set can have only one data file or more. Basically, different data files have different data structures or format.
DATA SET FILES (SUBSETS):

Data File No.	Data File Identifier	On-Line Filename	Starting Date	Periodicity of sample	End Period
1	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE control plot 1	ferncp1.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
2	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE control plot 2	ferncp2.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
3	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE control plot 3	ferncp3.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
4	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE control plot 4	ferncp4.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
5	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE fertilized plots 1	fernfp1.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
6	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE fertilized plots 2	fernfp2.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
7	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE fertilized plots 3	fernfp3.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
8	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE fertilized plots 4	fernfp4.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
9	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE leaf litter plot 1	fern-ll1.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
10	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE leaf litter plot 3	fern-ll3.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995
11	Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE leaf litter plot 4	fern-ll4.txt	October 11, 1995	Once	November 28, 1995

RESEARCH LOCATION: El Verde Field Station, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS E-MAIL address

Leslie Finical Halleck

lesliehalleck@hotmail.com

OTHER RESEARCHERS E-MAIL address

Joanne Sharpe	joannesharpe@email.com
Xiaoming Zou	xzou@www.ites.upr.edu

CONTACT PERSONS E-MAIL address Phone Number (Include area code)

Joanne M. Sharpe

joannesharpe@email.com

(207)737-8608

SOURCE OF FUNDING (SPONSOR): None

DATA SET ABSTRACT: A fern survey was done of the plots established by under MRCE funding to assess controls on primary productivity along an elevational gradient. The control plots (CP), fertilized plots (FP) and plots where only leaf litter (ll) was removed at El Verde were survey and all ferns present in the plots listed, mapped and measured in Fall of 1995, several years after the initial fertilization and leaf litter treatment had been applied. The objective was to determine the extent to which the fern flora had been affected by the treatments.

DATA SET METHODS: Each of the 11 MRCE 20 x 20 m plots at El Verde was surveyed for ferns. Each fern plant found was identified to species and located within one of the 16 subplots (5 x 5 m) within the plot. The substrate, leaf litter cover and height off the ground of each individual was noted. Leaves were counted and the petiole and length and width of the lamina of the longest mature sterile (fertile if no sterile leaves present) leaf was measured. The petiole and lamina lengths were summed to give the total length of the leaf. The number of fertile leaves present on the plant was noted as was any evidence of herbivory. The number of broken leaves on the plant was also noted. If the leaves were pinnate, then the number of pairs of leaflets was recorded.

REFERENCES: Walker, Lawrence R., Jess K. Zimmerman, D. Jean Lodge and Sandra Guzman-Grajales. 1996. An altitudinal comparison of growth and species composition in hurricane-damaged forest in Puerto Rico. Journal of Ecology 84 (877-889)

CROSS-REFERENCES (other data sets related to this one): LTERDBAS 75: Fern sporophytes growth observations; LTERDBAS 121: Fern distribution in El Verde MRCE plots

SAMPLE LOCATION: No samples taken

STORAGE SITES (of data files): No samples stored.

INVESTIGATOR'S ASSIGNED KEYWORDS: fern, pteridophyte, growth

LEF LTER OFFICIAL KEYWORDS (See table): EL VERDE, MRCE, LEF, OTHER AGRICULTURAL USE, PLANT GROWTH, PRIMARY PRODUCTION, FERNS

PUBLICATIONS:
Halleck, Leslie Finical, Joanne M. Sharpe and Xiaoming Zou. 2004. Understorey fern responses to post-hurricane fertilization and debris removal in a Puerto Rican rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20: 173-181.

DISSEMINATION: UNRESTRICTED

REASONS TO RESTRICT DATA IN THIS DATA SET BEYOND ITS TWO YEAR POLICY PERIOD*:

*WILL HAVE TO BE APPROVED BY LTER PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: J. ZIMMERMAN, A. LUGO , D.J. LODGE

SITES DESCRIPTIONS: Sites are the standard El Verde plots established for the MRCE experiments on control of primary productivity along an elevational gradient.

Geographical positional system (GPS) Coordinates for each location:

location	latitude	longitude

VARIABLES (ATTRIBUTES):

FILE NAME OR #ABOVE (all in which the variable appears)	All	All	All	All
ABBREVIATION (as it appears on the data file)	DATE	FERT	FIX	HT
NAME OF VARIABLE	Date data recorded	Fertile code	Fix code	Height plant above ground
DEFINITION OF VARIABLE	Date (month/day/year) that the plot was surveyed for ferns.	Indicates whether the leaf measurement is for a sterile (standard) or fertile leaf.	Indicates possible questionability of some aspect of the data collected.	Number of centimeters an individual plant is located above the ground if it is not rooted on the ground. Note that only plants below 2 m above the ground were included in the survey.
UNIT	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
PRECISION	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
RANGE OR LIST OF VALUES	N/A	blank (or zero) = sterile 1 = fertile	X = question, blank = no questions	1 to 199 cm
DATA TYPE	Alphanumeric	Alphanumeric	Alphanumeric	Numeric
MISSING DATA CODES	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

VARIABLES (ATTRIBUTES):

FILE NAME OR #ABOVE (all in which the variable appears)	All	All	All	All
ABBREVIATION (as it appears on the data file)	LAM	LFCT	LEN	BROK
NAME OF VARIABLE	Lamina length	Leaf count	Leaf length	Number of broken leaves
DEFINITION OF VARIABLE	The length of the lamina of the youngest mature unbroken sterile leaf was measured. If only fertile leaves occurred on the plant then the lamina of the youngest mature unbroken fertile leaf was measured, and this was so noted in the Remarks column.	Count of the number of living leaves on the individual fern plant	Length of leaf including the petiole, lamina and terminal leaflet(s).	Number of leaves on plant that are missing some portion of the top of the leaf.
UNIT	Centimeters	N/A	Centimeters	N/A
PRECISION	Tenth of centimeter	N/A	Tenth of centimeter	N/A
RANGE OR LIST OF VALUES	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
DATA TYPE	Numeric	Numeric	Numeric	Numeric
MISSING DATA CODES	Must be present	Must be present	Must be present	Blank if none are missing

VARIABLES (ATTRIBUTES):

FILE NAME OR #ABOVE (all in which the variable appears)	All	All	All	All
ABBREVIATION (as it appears on the data file)	HERB	PRS	PCTL	PET
NAME OF VARIABLE	Number of leaves with herbivore damage	Pairs of leaflets	Percentage of litter	Petiole length
DEFINITION OF VARIABLE	Leaves with evidence of herbivore damage are counted.	The number of distinct pairs of leaflets were counted on leaves which were pinnate.	Percentage of base of plant covered with leaf litter.	The length of the petiole on the youngest mature unbroken sterile leaf on the plant was measured. If there were no sterile mature unbroken leaves then the petiole of a fertile leaf was measured and so noted in the Remarks column.
UNIT	N/A	N/A	N/A	Centimeters
PRECISION	N/A	N/A	N/A	1 cm
RANGE OR LIST OF VALUES	N/A	N/A	0 - 100%	N/A
DATA TYPE	Numeric	Numeric	Numeric	Numeric
MISSING DATA CODES	Blank if no leaves with herbivory	Blank if not a pinnate leaf.	N/A	Must be present

VARIABLES (ATTRIBUTES):

FILE NAME OR #ABOVE (all in which the variable appears)	All	All	All
ABBREVIATION (as it appears on the data file)	PFS	PLOT
NAME OF VARIABLE	Plot fertility status	Plot ID code	Remarks
DEFINITION OF VARIABLE	Code for experimental treatment applied to the plot	The code identifies the plots originally established for the MRCE experiments. Codes starting with CP are Control plots; FP are fertilized plots; LL are plots from which leaf litter was removed. There are 4 control plots, 4 fertilized plots and 3 leaf litter removal plots.	Any comments about the plant or leaf being measured. If a fertile leaf is measured it is noted here.
UNIT	N/A	N/A
PRECISION	N/A	N/A	N/A
RANGE OR LIST OF VALUES	C = Control F = Fertilized L = Litter removed	CP1-CP4, FP1-FP4, LL1,LL3, LL4	N/A
DATA TYPE	Alphabetic	Alpha	Alphabetic
MISSING DATA CODES	Must be present	Must be present	N/A

COMPUTATIONAL METHODS:

Variable Name	Formula

FOR DATA MANAGER USE ONLY

DATE OF LAST REVIEW: May 20, 2004
DATE OF LAST ENTRY: November 28, 1995
STAGE OF DATA SET MANAGEMENT (dates):
RECEIVED: May 17, 1999
ENTERED: May 13, 2002
FILED ON-LINE REVIEWED BY RESEARCHER
FILING MEDIA:
NAME OF DOCUMENTATION FILE: lterdb121.htm, original files:
NAME OF ON - LINE CATALOG: LTERDBAS
RECORD #: 121
DOCUMENT TYPE: magnetic media
PRIORITY TO BE ENTERED: N/A

Rev. date of this form: 8 June 2001