Dataset: Fall Foliage

Methods

The methods followed in the creation of the dataset, including description of field, laboratory and processing steps, and quality control procedures

Current Methods

• Sample collection
  
  

  Each tree was between 50 and 90 feet tall. Three leaves were collected from a single branch selected from each cardinal direction in the lower crown of the tree. Branch samples were obtained using a shotgon loaded with steel shot.

• Moisture analysis
  
  

  One leaf was retained for moisture analysis. Tissue was removed with a hole-punch from the remaining two leaves of the sample to be used for carbohydrate analysis. The remaining tissue from these two leaves was used for all subsquent chemical and color analysis.

Past Methods (No longer in use)

• Foliage samples
  Started: 1998-08-01
  Ended: 1998-12-31

  Five mature sugar maple trees are sampled weekly from within the forest (these are the same trees used in the tree phenology monitoring project conducted by Vermont Forestry Division) and five trees on forest edge. Weekly foliage samples are analyzed for foliar moisture, nitrogen, nutrients, and carbohydrate content.

Dataset Fields

Detailed documentation of the fields comprising the dataset, including the type of measurement, units where applicable, and any controlled vocabularies or code lists present in the data

Sampling Equipment

Equipment and software used to collect data, including how that equipment was used.

Current Equipment

• Shotgun
  
  

  Shotgun loaded with steel shot to obtain branch samples.

Site Characteristics

The spatial extent of the dataset site coverage, and descriptions of the spatial extent and context for the data collection

• Site Description

  Mature sugar maple stand at the Proctor Maple Research Center.