Victorian Alpine Plot Network (Alpine Long term Monitoring - Community Changes): Plot Details - Spatial Coordinates, South-east Highlands, Australia

Abstract: The Victorian Alpine Plot Network Plot-data Package contains plot-data collected at eighty-nine sites situated in the Australian Alps. Randomly positioned transects are situated within sites rather than ‘plots’ sensu stricto. The number of transects within sites, and sampling frequency varies from annual to decadal, depending on site and purpose.

This is part of a much larger dataset that spans from 1944, when plot were set up to document long-term changes in ecosystem composition and structure in relation to disturbance (see methods for more information). The Victorian Alpine Plot Network research plots are revisited on a 2-10 years basis. 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: This is part of a much larger dataset that spans from 1944, when plot were set up to document long-term changes in ecosystem composition and structure in relation to disturbance (see methods for more information). The Victorian Alpine Plot Network research plots are revisited on a 2-10 years basis. Study extent: At the Carr and Turner sites, there are fixed plots, each 0.05–0.1 ha in area. At the ‘Pretty Valley’ site, there is one plot that has been fenced (and thus ungrazed by livestock) since 1946; adjacent to this plot there is an unfenced plot, grazed by livestock (mainly cattle) from the mid 19th Century until 2005. At the ‘Rocky Valley’ site there is a 4 ha fenced area, which has excluded livestock since 1945-6. Inside there are monitoring plots located in open heathland, closed heathland and snowpatch herbfield vegetation types. There are companion plots, grazed by domestic livestock until 2005, located in equivalent vegetation types outside the fence. There is a total of 8 plots. The four corners of each plot are marked with steel droppers or fence posts, and each is geolocated. Within each plot there are multiple transects, the ends of which are fixed with sturdy 5 cm x 5 cm wooden pegs. The length, number of and distance between transects within plots varied from plot to plot at the time of establishment; this arrangement has been preserved. There are 10-20 transects per plot, each 2-15 m long, and ca 1-1.5 m apart. Point quadrats were initially taken at intervals of 2 feet (24 inches); sampling interval was converted to 50 cm in 1979. There is a total of 600–1000 point quadrats per plot. Measurements were taken at each plot annually from 1945/6–1951, then once or twice per decade thereafter (Wahren et al. 1994). There was a full sampling of all plots in 1979, and both Pretty Valley plots have been monitored more or less annually is since 1979, and the Rocky Valley plots every 5 years. The last full sampling of all eight plots was in 2013. Project funding: Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of, and funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Type
collection
Title
Victorian Alpine Plot Network (Alpine Long term Monitoring - Community Changes): Plot Details - Spatial Coordinates, South-east Highlands, Australia
Alternate Title
Victorian Alpine Plot Network: Spatial data Long Term Monitoring - Community Changes
Collection Type
Dataset
Access Privileges
Long Term Ecological Research Network
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
10.25911/5c3ff32bb55d4
Metadata Language
English
Data Language
English
Brief Description
The Victorian Alpine Plot Network Plot-data Package contains plot-data collected at eighty-nine sites situated in the Australian Alps. Randomly positioned transects are situated within sites rather than ‘plots’ sensu stricto. The number of transects within sites, and sampling frequency varies from annual to decadal, depending on site and purpose. 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: The Victorian Alpine Plot Network Plot-data Package contains plot-data collected at eighty-nine sites situated in the Australian Alps. Randomly positioned transects are situated within sites rather than ‘plots’ sensu stricto. The number of transects within sites, and sampling frequency varies from annual to decadal, depending on site and purpose.

This is part of a much larger dataset that spans from 1944, when plot were set up to document long-term changes in ecosystem composition and structure in relation to disturbance (see methods for more information). The Victorian Alpine Plot Network research plots are revisited on a 2-10 years basis. 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: This is part of a much larger dataset that spans from 1944, when plot were set up to document long-term changes in ecosystem composition and structure in relation to disturbance (see methods for more information). The Victorian Alpine Plot Network research plots are revisited on a 2-10 years basis. Study extent: At the Carr and Turner sites, there are fixed plots, each 0.05–0.1 ha in area. At the ‘Pretty Valley’ site, there is one plot that has been fenced (and thus ungrazed by livestock) since 1946; adjacent to this plot there is an unfenced plot, grazed by livestock (mainly cattle) from the mid 19th Century until 2005. At the ‘Rocky Valley’ site there is a 4 ha fenced area, which has excluded livestock since 1945-6. Inside there are monitoring plots located in open heathland, closed heathland and snowpatch herbfield vegetation types. There are companion plots, grazed by domestic livestock until 2005, located in equivalent vegetation types outside the fence. There is a total of 8 plots. The four corners of each plot are marked with steel droppers or fence posts, and each is geolocated. Within each plot there are multiple transects, the ends of which are fixed with sturdy 5 cm x 5 cm wooden pegs. The length, number of and distance between transects within plots varied from plot to plot at the time of establishment; this arrangement has been preserved. There are 10-20 transects per plot, each 2-15 m long, and ca 1-1.5 m apart. Point quadrats were initially taken at intervals of 2 feet (24 inches); sampling interval was converted to 50 cm in 1979. There is a total of 600–1000 point quadrats per plot. Measurements were taken at each plot annually from 1945/6–1951, then once or twice per decade thereafter (Wahren et al. 1994). There was a full sampling of all plots in 1979, and both Pretty Valley plots have been monitored more or less annually is since 1979, and the Rocky Valley plots every 5 years. The last full sampling of all eight plots was in 2013. Project funding: Between 2012 and 2018 this project was part of, and funded through the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN) a facility within the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
Methods
Plot set-up
1
4 mm diameter steel pins
The Victorian Alpine Plot Network Plot-data Package contains plot-data collected at eighty-nine sites situated in the Australian Alps. Randomly positioned transects are situated within sites rather than ‘plots’ sensu stricto. Each site, and/or transect geo-located, and point quadrats are taken at fixed intervals along each transect using a 4 mm diameter steel pin inserted vertically into the vegetation. The number of transects within sites, and sampling frequency varies from annual to decadal, depending on site and purpose. The number of transects within sites, and sampling frequency varies from annual to decadal, depending on site and purpose.
Data collection
2
Long Term Vegetation monitoring sites - grasslands, heathlands, snowpatch herbfields and wetlands:
Establishment of these long-term monitoring sites commenced in the late 1970’s on the Bogong High Plains. In ensuing decades, more sites have been established on the Bogong High Plains, Dargo High Plains and Holmes/Wellington (Wahren et al. 1994; Wahren et al. 1999; Wahren et al. 2001a; Wahren et al. 2001c; Williams et al. 2012; Wahren et al. 2013). Sites have been established in all of the major vegetation types – grasslands, heathlands, snowpatch herbfields and wetlands. In the grasslands, each site is ca. 0.5-1 ha in area, with 10-12 10 m transects per site. Transects are located randomly within sites and point quadrats are taken at 20 cm intervals along each transect. This gives a total of 50 points per 10m transect, and 500-600 points per site. All species touching the pin are recorded, along with the state of the ground surface (whether bare, or covered by litter). At present there are 17 monitoring sites established in grassland on the Bogong High Plains and five at Holmes and Wellington Plains.
A similar array of transects within sites has been established at 45 snowpatch herbfields sites across the Bogong High Plains. At each site the sampling regime is the same as for grasslands – 10 x 10 m transects, with 50 point quadrats per transect. Complementary floristic data are also collected at each site from five to fifteen 3 x 2 m quadrats that are randomly located within each snow patch.
Quadrat size was determined using species-area relationships for a range of quadrat sizes (0.1-20 m2; (Swengel 2001)). Within each quadrat, all species are identified and the cover of each is estimated visually using the Braun-Blanquet scale (Wahren et al. 2001a).
This general array of sampling transects, point quadrats along transects and floristic quadrats is consistent between grassland and snowpatch monitoring sites. However, the number of transects and floristic quadrats needed to detect change at each site varies. The optimal number per site has been determined by power analysis to adequately sample the composition and structure of the grassland and snowpatch communities, and detect change in key variables (vegetation cover, bare ground, etc) over time. There are also long-term monitoring sites in wetlands. These include two sites at the head of Middle Creek on the Bogong High Plains.
File Descriptions
vltm_spatial_coordinates_p245t511.csv
altitude
definitionAltitude
interval number typenatural
interval standard unitmeter
area_sqm_
definitionArea of plant community
ratio number typewhole
ratio standard unitsquareMeter
aspect
definitionAspect
interval number typewhole
interval standard unitdegree
cbonrpointsvary
definitioncbonrpointsvary
ratio number typereal
ratio standard unitnumber
datum
definitionDatum
ordinal text definitionCharacter
nrtransects
definitionNumber of transects at monitoring site
ratio number typenatural
ratio standard unitnumber
plantcommunity
definitionPlant community
nominal text definitionCharacter
region
definitionVictorian alpine region
nominal text definitionCharacter
sitecode
definitionSite code
nominal text definitionCharacter
sitename
definitionSite name
nominal text definitionCharacter
slope_
definitionSlope (percentage)
interval number typewhole
interval standard unitnumber
trdistbwpoints
definitionDistance between points along a transect (generally 20cm for point quadrats)
ratio number typereal
ratio standard unitcentimeter
trstartdist
definitionTransect start distance (where spatial data is collected along a transect, e.g. a line intercept)
ratio number typereal
ratio standard unitcentimeter
utm_e
definitionEasting (Zone WGS84/ 55S)
interval number typewhole
interval standard unitmeter
utm_n
definitionNorthing (Zone WGS84/ 55S)
interval number typewhole
interval standard unitmeter
yrest
date time formatYYYY
definitionYear established - commencement of monitoring
Contact Email
belln@unimelb.edu.au; ary@unimelb.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
Principal Investigator
Ary Hoffman
Supervisors
Ary Hoffman
Fields of Research
0501 - Ecological Applications
Keywords
keyword:Geographic; keyword:Plot details; keyword:Plot setup; keyword:Spatial coordinates; Victorian Alpine; Long Term Monitoring - Community Changes; Spatial data
Type of Research Activity
Strategic basic research
Geospatial Location
South Eastern Highlands, Victoria, Australia
text
northlimit = -36.73575; southlimit = -37.49639; westlimit = 146.41728; eastLimit = 147.40598
iso19139dcmiBox
Date of data creation
2017-08-23
Year of data publication
2017
Creator(s) for Citation
Hoffman
Ary
Publisher for Citation
Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTERN), ANU Data Commons, The Australian National University
Other Related Identifiers
MorphoId:ltern2.238; PackageId:245
Access Rights
Data users must request permission from the Data Provider before access to latitudinal and longitudinal data is granted.
Access Rights Type
Restricted
Rights held in and over the data
AusGoal Restrictive Licence - This licence has been developed specifically for material that may contain personal or other confidential information. It may also be used for other reasons, including material to be licenced under some form of limiting or restrictive condition,
Licence Type
AusGoalRestrictive - AusGoal Restrictive Licence
Licence
LTERN Deed: 7 Date of execution: 2016-10-10
Retention Period
Indefinitely
Data Management Plan
No
Status: Published
Published to:
  • Australian National University
  • Australian National Data Service