• Address:
  705 Spear Street
  South Burlington, Vermont 05403
  United States of America
  
  Phone: (802) 391-4135
  Email: femc@uvm.edu
  Website: www.uvm.edu/femc

Forest plot sampling of 13 watersheds across the Catskill Mountains, New York. Data for this project was collected as part of a larger-scale effort to document the distribution of forest types within the Catskills using three similar methods of determining relative basal area for all canopy species.

• Label: COUNT

• Description: If 'LTCODE' = 'GT', 'COUNT'=1 (each tree coded individually). If 'LTCODE"='LT', 'COUNT' = the number of <10cm diameter saplings of that species in the plot.

• Storage Type: int

• Measurment Type: ordinal

• Label: Diameter at Breast-Height

• Description: Diameter at breast height in centimeters, if 'LTCODE'='LT', this field is coded as '0'.

• Storage Type: decimal

• Measurment Type: ordinal

• Label: Elevation

• Description: Elevation of plot surveyed from in feet.

• Storage Type: int

• Measurment Type: ordinal

• Label: Live/Dead

• Description: Whether the tree sampled is live or dead. L=live tree, D=dead tree.

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: Location

• Description: Number code for each 'location' - or clusters of plots within an area of ~1 ha as outlined by the two transect methods used in the study.

• Storage Type: int

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: LTCODE

• Description: Size class descriptor. All trees with a diameter at breast height of >10cm are coded individually as 'GT', with their DBH recorded in the 'DBH' field. All trees with a DBH <10cm are tallied by species in the 'COUNT' field.

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: Plot

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: Species

• Description: Species codes listed in methods, using three-letter codes for each species based on the common name.

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: Watershed

• Description: Two-letter code assigned to each watershed sampled in this study. Codes listed in methods.

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Started: 1997-01-01
  Ended: 2000-12-31
• Sampling Description: Stratified random sampling of 5 watersheds throughout the Catskill Mountain Preserve ranging in size from 63-476 hectares. Stands were sampled along a series of transects perpendicular to the stream axis, with sampling occurring at a randomly chosen elevation within each 100m elevation band. Stands sampled within each watershed were proportional to its area. Each stand consisted of 5 plots, 6 x 30 meters each. The five plots were places 20 meters apart along the contour line. DBH of all trees >10cm in the plot was recorded, and all stems <10cm and at least 1.6 meters tall were tallied by species. Organic horizon soils were collected for carbon-nitrogen analysis.

• Started: 1997-01-01
  Ended: 2000-12-31
• Sampling Description: Stratified random sampling of 5 watersheds throughout the Catskill Mountain Preserve ranging in size from 63-476 hectares. Stands were sampled along a series of transects perpendicular to the stream axis, with sampling occurring at a randomly chosen elevation within each 100m elevation band. Stands sampled within each watershed were proportional to its area. Each stand consisted of 5 plots, 6 x 30 meters each. Five plots were laid out within a larger 58 x 90 meter rerctangle, one in each corner and one in the center. Elevation was recorded at the center plot for this method. DBH of all trees >10cm in the plot was recorded, and all stems <10cm and at least 1.6 meters tall were tallied by species. Organic horizon soils were collected for carbon-nitrogen analysis.

• Started: 1997-01-01
  Ended: 2000-12-31
• Sampling Description: Three tracts not necessarily comprising a watershed were sampled at stands at randomly chosen latitude and longitude coordinates evenly distributed across elevation. At each stand, four prism survey plots (metric wedge prism, BAF 2) were established within a hectare, one in the center of each quadrant. Species and DBH of each tree included by the prism were recorded. Organic horizon soils were collected for carbon-nitrogen analysis.