Dataset: Eelgrass shoot density and above-ground biomass

Name: Quadrat-based measurements of eelgrass shoot density and above-ground biomass for plants growing in shallow and deep zones at four coastal sites in Massachusetts, USA in 2019
Published: 2024-10-03
Keywords: phenotypic differentiation, depth gradient, oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.939467.1

Spatial Extent: N:42.59711 E:-70.65592 S:42.42009 W:-70.91553

coastal sites in the Gulf of Maine, USA

Temporal Extent: 2019-06-26 - 2019-07-01

Project:

RUI: Collaborative Research: Trait differentiation and local adaptation to depth within meadows of the foundation seagrass Zostera marina (ZosMarLA)

Principal Investigator:

Cynthia Hays (Keene State College, Keene)

Co-Principal Investigator:

Torrance C. Hanley (Northeastern University)

A. Randall Hughes (Northeastern University)

Erik Sotka (Grice Marine Laboratory - College of Charleston, GML-CoC)

Contact:

Cynthia Hays (Keene State College, Keene)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Amber D. York (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2024-10-03

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Quadrat-based measurements of eelgrass shoot density and above-ground biomass for plants growing in shallow and deep zones at four coastal sites in Massachusetts, USA in 2019

Abstract:

This dataset includes quadrat-based measurements of eelgrass shoot density and above-ground biomass for plants growing in shallow and deep zones at four different sites in Massachusetts, USA in 2019. The four sites were West Beach in Beverly (N 42.55921, W 70.80578), Curlew Beach in Nahant (N 42.42009, W 70.91553), Lynch Park in Beverly (N 42.54488, W 70.85842), and Niles Beach in Gloucester (N 42.59711, W 70.65592). Like many marine foundation species, eelgrass often spans strong environmental gradients over relatively small spatial scales - this data set provides information on phenotypic differentiation across the depth gradient at multiple sites in the Gulf of Maine.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier (PID)	Date PID Issued
2024-10-03	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.939467.1	2024-10-08

Methods & Sampling

Location description: Four coastal sites in the Gulf of Maine, USA, that sustain continuous eelgrass meadows across a depth gradient of ~1-2 m below MLLW to ~4-5.5 m below MLLW (see Supplemental File "Site List" for site codes used in this dataset and coordinates (lat,lon)).

We conducted a field survey in the shallow and deep zone of the meadow at each site, with zones defined by proximity to the respective edges of the eelgrass beds. Divers on SCUBA harvested all above-ground eelgrass biomass within in 5-7 0.25 x 0.25 m quadrats set in each of three previously established permanent quadrats per depth per site (N = 15-21 quadrats per depth per site). Shoots were transferred to the lab on ice, where we counted the number of vegetative and flowering shoots in each sample; then we dried the plants at 60 degrees C and recorded aboveground biomass to the nearest milligram.

Organism:
eelgrass, Zostera marina, urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:495077

Problems/Issues

Note: Duplicate rows in this data table are correct and intentional entries of separate measurements, not redundant rows.

BCO-DMO Processing

* Data from "perm.quad.density.2019.csv" was imported into the BCO-DMO data system for this dataset. Values "NA" imported as missing data values.
** Missing data values are displayed differently based on the file format you download. They are blank in csv files, "NaN" in MatLab files, etc.

* A Site list was extracted from metadata and added as a supplemental file.

* The site code was used to join the lat and lon for each site into the primary data table for this dataset (939467_v1_eelgrass-shoot-density-and-biomass.csv) from the supplemental site list.

* Coordinate for Lynch Park in Beverly corrected from (42.42009,-70.91553) to (42.54488,-70.85842). New coordinate was provided by the data submitter.

Data Files

File
939467_v1_eelgrass-shoot-density-and-biomass.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 7.32 KB) MD5:50a26aee47a930b04534421f8f5ca614 Primary data file for dataset ID 939467, version 1

Supplemental Files

File
Site List filename: site_list.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 234 bytes) MD5:0cba40568ee8de4c0b6b7bc23e1745a3 Site list containing columns: Site_Code, Site code as used in Data File for this dataset Site_Description, Site description lat, latitude, decimal degrees lon, longitude, decimal degrees.

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1851043
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1851262
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1851432

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

None available yet

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Date	The date of sample collection Format: %Y-%m-%d	unitless	date
Site	Site Code (see supplemental file "Site List" for more details)	unitless	site
lat	Site latitude	decimal degrees	lat
lon	Site longitude	decimal degrees	lon
Depth	Nominal depth=SH (shallow zone) or DP (deep zone)	unitless	depth_n
Permanent_Quadrat	The permanent quadrat identifier the sample came from, three per depth per site.	unitless	Site_ID
Vegetative_Density	The number of vegetative shoots in each quadrat.	number/0.25m^2	density
Flowering_Density	The number of flowering shoots in each quadrat.	number/0.25m^2	density
Total_Density	The sum total of vegetative and flowering shoots in each quadrat.	number/0.25m^2	density
Biomass	The dry mass of all above-ground biomass, to the nearest 0.001 g	grams (g)	mass_dry

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Dataset: Eelgrass shoot density and above-ground biomass