Victorian Alpine Plot Network (Alpine Summit Plots): Vegetation Composition Data, South-East Highlands, Australia, 2012-2013

Abstract: This Victorian Alpine Plot Network Vegetation Composition Data Package comprises plot-based vegetation data for alpine mountain summits in the Australian Alps. Twenty 1 metre squared quadrats are situated along each of four varying length permanent transects established on mountain summits. In each quadrat, plant species are assigned percentage cover abundance and species per metre squared are recorded.

The Alpine Summit plots study, which commenced in 2001, forms part of the collection of data packages by the Victorian Alpine Plot Network. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Victorian Alpine Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c11c3d283b0e. Sampling method: A global climate change and mountain environments monitoring network - The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA; http://www.gloria.ac.at) - was established in 2001 to detect long-term vegetation change on alpine mountain summits. Observations focus on changes in species richness with respect to local temperatures and altitude. Five mountain summit survey sites were established in the Kosciuszko National Park in 2004 and several in the Victorian Alpine National Park in 2006. There are currently 14 such summits, encompassing the geographic distribution of high alpine summits in the Australian Alps, with each to be surveyed at 5-year intervals. Study extent: No limitations or missing units are in coverage outlined in Conceptual Design. The temporal range of the dataset is predominantly 2012 but the sampling period extends into the first 10 days of January 2013. Project funding: Between 2012 and 2018 this project has been part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN). LTERN is a Facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Type
collection
Title
Victorian Alpine Plot Network (Alpine Summit Plots): Vegetation Composition Data, South-East Highlands, Australia, 2012-2013
Alternate Title
Victorian Alpine Plot Network: Vegetation – Composition Summit Plots, 2012–2013
Collection Type
Dataset
Access Privileges
Long Term Ecological Research Network
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
10.25911/5c340e1244ce9
Metadata Language
English
Data Language
English
Brief Description
This Victorian Alpine Plot Network Vegetation Composition Data Package comprises plot-based vegetation data for alpine mountain summits in the Australian Alps taken between 2012 and 2013. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Victorian Alpine Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c11c3d283b0e.
Full Description
Abstract: This Victorian Alpine Plot Network Vegetation Composition Data Package comprises plot-based vegetation data for alpine mountain summits in the Australian Alps. Twenty 1 metre squared quadrats are situated along each of four varying length permanent transects established on mountain summits. In each quadrat, plant species are assigned percentage cover abundance and species per metre squared are recorded.

The Alpine Summit plots study, which commenced in 2001, forms part of the collection of data packages by the Victorian Alpine Plot Network. A synopsis of related data packages which have been collected as part of the Victorian Alpine Plot Network’s full program is provided at https://doi.org/10.25911/5c11c3d283b0e. Sampling method: A global climate change and mountain environments monitoring network - The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA; http://www.gloria.ac.at) - was established in 2001 to detect long-term vegetation change on alpine mountain summits. Observations focus on changes in species richness with respect to local temperatures and altitude. Five mountain summit survey sites were established in the Kosciuszko National Park in 2004 and several in the Victorian Alpine National Park in 2006. There are currently 14 such summits, encompassing the geographic distribution of high alpine summits in the Australian Alps, with each to be surveyed at 5-year intervals. Study extent: No limitations or missing units are in coverage outlined in Conceptual Design. The temporal range of the dataset is predominantly 2012 but the sampling period extends into the first 10 days of January 2013. Project funding: Between 2012 and 2018 this project has been part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN). LTERN is a Facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). TERN is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Methods
Plot Setup
1
None specified
For each mountain summit, four variable length permanent transects have been established that run from the summit, downslope, to a contour 5 m in elevation below the highest point (the ‘-5 m contour’). Transects extend from the summit to the north (0 deg), south (180 deg), west (270 deg) and east (90 deg). For each transect 20 x 1 m2 quadrats are randomly distributed from the summit to the -5 m contour, five on each slope/aspect.
Data Collection
2
None specified
All species are recorded and assigned a percentage cover (<1%, 1%, 5%, then to the nearest 5% thereafter). Species per metre squared is also recorded. Litter, rock and bare ground are also recorded. These data allow compositional changes to be detected over time. Across the entire summit, to the -5 m contour on all aspects, a species list is compiled to indicate the Species Pool. All species are then assigned an abundance based on an approximately log scale of the number of individuals seen: fewer than 10, in the 10s, in the 100s, in the 1000s. These data allow species invasions (and depletions) to be detected.
File Descriptions
vasp_vegetation_composition_2012_p105t105.csv
aspect
definitionAspect
nominal text definitionCharacter
cover
definitionPercentage cover
ratio number typereal
ratio standard unitnumber
date
date time formatYYYY-MM-DD
definitionDate of survey
number of records2344
site_code
definitionAlpha-numeric site descriptor
nominal text definitionCharacter
site_name
definitionName of site
nominal text definitionCharacter
species
definitionScientific name (binomial) and where relevant, other observations on floristics.
nominal text definitionCharacter
vasp_vegetation_composition_diversity_2012_p105t267.csv
aspect
definitionAspect
nominal text definitionCharacter
date
date time formatYYYY-MM-DD
definitionDate of survey
no_species_per_1m2
definitionSpecies per square metre
ratio number typewhole
ratio standard unitdimensionless
number of records280
site_code
definitionAlpha-numeric site descriptor
nominal text definitionCharacter
site_name
definitionName of site
nominal text definitionCharacter
Contact Email
belln@unimelb.edu.au; ary@unimelb.edu.au; chwahren@gmail.com; j.morgan@latrobe.edu.au
Contact Address
Bio21 Institute Departments of Genetics and Zoology University of Melbourne Melbourne, Vic., 3010 Australia
Contact Phone Number
+61 3 8344 2282; +61 3 9479 2226
Principal Investigator
Ary Hoffman
Supervisors
Ary Hoffman
Collaborators
Susanna Venn; John Morgan; Henrick Wahren
Fields of Research
0602 - Ecology
Keywords
GCMD:Biological Classification > Plants; GCMD:Biosphere > Biosphere > Terrestrial Ecosystems > Alpine/Tundra; LTERN Monitoring Theme:Vegetation structure; LTERN Monitoring Theme:Plant species composition; LTERN Monitoring Theme:Plant species abundance; LTERN Monitoring Theme:Individual plants; keyword:Alpine National Park; keyword:Species richness; keyword:Alpine summits; keyword:Dominant classes; keyword:Compositional changes; Victorian Alpine; Summit Plots; Vegetation – Composition
Type of Research Activity
Strategic basic research
Date Coverage
2013
2012
Geospatial Location
Alpine Summits, Australian Alps
text
northlimit = -36.7325; southlimit = -37.13255; westlimit = 146.4542; eastLimit = 147.30667
iso19139dcmiBox
Date of data creation
2014-08-26
Year of data publication
2014
Creator(s) for Citation
Hoffman
Ary
Wahren
Henrick
Morgan
John
Publisher for Citation
Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN), ANU Data Commons, The Australian National University
Other Related Identifiers
MorphoId:ltern2.42; PackageId:105
Access Rights Type
Open
Rights held in and over the data
Creative Commons Licence (CC BY- Attribution) is assigned to this data. Details of the licence can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Licence Type
CC-BY - Attribution (Version 4)
Retention Period
Indefinitely
Data Management Plan
No
Status: Published
Published to:
  • Australian National University
  • Australian National Data Service
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