Plot set up

Teams will consist of 4 people with a cell phone and university vehicle as well as ID.

Locate plot center in field with GPS according to lat/long data.

Use aerial photographs for locating plots in remote areas.

Get permission(s) to access property (if necessary)

Permission to access. Most sites will already have permission arranged – however in some instances site owners may not have given explicit permission. So ALWAYS check that it’s okay to carry out the survey - if people are home/in a building on the site, explain what you are doing, ask if they got the letter and make sure that they are okay with you going ahead. If there’s no one around, go ahead, provided you don’t need to access ‘sensitive’ areas e.g. back yards, behind locked gates.

At plot center, establish plot dividing ropes (dividing plot into four quadrants with ropes laid out due N,S,E,W).

Plots are square 30 m x 30 m. At plot center, establish plot dividing ropes (dividing plot into four quadrants with ropes laid out due N,S,E,W). Set up the tripod.

Set up portable weather station at plot center and run while on plot (wind speed and direction, air temp. etc)

Start filling out data sheet:

Basic plot characteristics

Date:

Crew (NOT just initials)

Plot ID

Short description of plot - 20 word limit (key words only)

Weather:

Recent rain event

Overcast / sunshine

Traffic description surrounding the plot

Freeways/Expressways

Major Roads

Collector Streets

Local Streets/ cul-de-sac

Dirt road

IF ANYTHING DOES NOT MATCH…Measure (using tape) and GPS the location of any new or changed objects; Draw on the map any alterations (make sure there are accompanying measurements i.e. if a new wall, how long it is and how far from the nearest other permanent features)

Land use (see attachment)

Percent of the plot area that is in the land use using the LTER landuse categories 1 - 6. This will mostly be 100%, but some plots will fall on a border e.g. 60% residential lot, 40% street.

IF the land use and plot features have completely changed (i.e. desert or vacant lot has been developed): i) Make a detailed sketch map of all the permanent surface features and surface cover types on the plot (including buildings, pool, shape of yard, pavement), ii) Using the tape, measure the length of features and their distance from other key objects, iii) GPS the location of all permanent surface objects.

Land cover

Map plot using combination of high resolution (1 m) air photos and GPS unit (Trimble Pro XL mapping grade unit). Basic location of land cover types, (including buildings, pool, shape of yard, pavement, major trees etc.). Each delimited area gets an ID number assigned. In the database (datasheet) these numbers will then be associated with the other information for each area:

Building (including use, materials, roof types (tar paper, shingle, red tile, etc))

roads, parking lots, sidewalks, etc.

Vegetation (general cover only, details are below)

mulch (bark chips, gravel etc.)

cement

asphalt/blacktop

wood

other impervious

soil (natural or graded - color, approx. grain size (i.e., silt, sand, gravel))

rock - (color, hand sample (from distinctly different units)) If site is on an alluvial fan, rock size/type distribution should be noted.

Water (pool, pond, canal, natural)

N.B. List to be expanded as other land cover types are encountered.

Landscape practices judged visually

turf is usually overseeded during the winter

Does the landscape have a natural or manicured appearance? Is the landscape maintained professionally? Are plants in the landscape healthy and vigorous? Are there any symptoms or signs of abiotic or biotic injury?

Watering regimes: drip or trickle, overhead spray, flood, or hand watering. Estimate cover of different irrigation types as a % of the whole plot.

Cover estimates:

Plot tree Cover (%) - the amount of tree canopy covering the plot, estimated at between 0 to 100%, to the nearest 10% (include canopy of trees overhanging into the plot, but stem outside).

Definition of a tree: Tree according to species list in database

Shrub cover (%) - the amount of shrub canopy covering the plot, estimated at between 0 to 100%, to the nearest 10%

Herbaceous/ground cover (%) - the amount of herbaceous/ground cover on the plot, estimated at between 0 to 100%, to the nearest 10%

Cactus cover (%) - estimated at between 0 to 100% to the nearest 10%

Open ground (%) bare soil, gravel and rock

Other (%): all non pervious surfaces on the plot (e.g. asphalt, concrete, roof)

Litter bag/wood burial (2000 only)

The protocol calls for 20 x 20 cm litter bags using 100% nylon cloth on the bottom and 1 mm mesh cloth on the top (LIDET 1995). The different mesh sizes allow access by invertebrate decomposers through the larger mesh on top without losing sample from the bottom. Ten grams of air-dried litter (brittle bush leaves, 10g air dry weight = 9.91g oven dry weight = 1.78 ash weight) need be added to each bag and the resulting weight recorded. The bags are to be sealed with stainless steel staples and labeled with permanently numbered aluminum or stainless steel tags using plastic cable ties. Wooden dowels, approximately 1 cm in diameter, need to be inserted 25 cm deep into the soil. Again, the dowels need to be tagged with numbered aluminum tags.

The Litter bags (3 need to be on the soil surface and attached to the soil with 2 -16 penny nails at opposite corners. Ideally one bag is collected after three, six and 12 month intervals. The wood dowells also need to be pulled after one year.

Equipment

Cell phone

Trimble Pro XRS GPS unit

Compass ($10)

Clipboard and data sheets and drafting paper (grid)

Clinometer ($90)

50 m tape measure ($25)

GPS unit

Calculator ($10)

GIS map of plot with coordinates

Portable mini-met sensors for recording temp, humidity, windspeed

Minolta SLR Camera and tripod

Digital Camera

Vegetation sampling:

Diameter tape ($15)

Soil sampling:

Soil recovery probe 2 inch diameter ($145.00)

Liners ($1.65 ea.)

Caps ($7.00 per 100)

Slide hammer ($130.00)

Shovel

Pick

Small garden trowel

Tools for the soil corer (crescent wrenches, WD 40, etc)

Insect sampling:

1 insect net (sweep net, available from BioQuip), 15" diameter opening

3 glass jars with lid, filled about 1/3 with 70% EtOH

label on outside of each jar

waterproof permanent ink pen for labeling jars