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Improving the outcomes of prairie restorations within croplands database
dataset
posted on 2020-10-05, 13:43 authored by Lydia EnglishLydia English, Matthew LiebmanMatthew Liebman, Jarad NiemiJarad NiemiThis database contains information from Lydia English's Masters Thesis at Iowa State University. The data come from vegetation surveys performed in the summers of 2018 and 2019 on farms across the state of Iowa that have implemented prairie strips. Prairie strips are a farming conservation practice whereby native, prairie habitat is planted within or at the edge of crop fields. By incorporating the deep roots and stiff stems of native prairie vegetation, prairie strips not only provide increased water infiltration, erosion control, and nutrient export from crop fields, but they also provide Iowa with much needed habitat for pollinators, birds, and other native taxa.
The database contains 5 tables:
i) all_site_info.csv - General information about each site visited throughout the study
ii) strips.csv - Area and perimeter of each prairie strip
ii) quadrats.csv - Anonymized location of all quadrats (sampling points) in every site
iv) vegetation.csv - Cover data (species abundance) recorded at every quadrat in every site
v) species_list.csv - Taxonomic and life-history information for all the plant species identified throughout the study
More detailed descriptions of the data collection process can be found in the README file. Descriptions of the variables in each table can be found in data_dictionary.csv.
Change log: Phalaris arundinacea was changed from 'native' to 'introduced' and scientific names were updated to reflect current classifications.
