Metadata

Description
FCE1274_Census_Survey: The census observational survey occurred within six temporary wetland regions (< 12-month hydroperiod) during the dry season, which occurs between January and June. The original dataset for the census survey contained 608 sites, but only 140 sites had collected macrophyte and microbial mat biomass data. At each site, the UTM coordinates were recorded, which were from the 17N region and were determined using the datum NAD83. UTMs were converted to decimal degrees using the project() function a part of the terra package (v 1.7.23) in R (Hijmans, 2023). For macrophyte collection, a 60-m transect was established at each site and oriented north to south. Ten 0.25 m2 sub-plots were established along the transect (5, 11, 17, 29, 35, 41, 47, 53, and 59 m) where visualization of the macrophyte community took place as macrophyte species height (cm) and percent cover (%); macrophyte material was only collected at a subset of sites at the 17 and 41 m sub-plots (Ross et al., 2006; Sah et al.,2007). Macrophyte material was collected at 88 of the original 608 sites in 2005 and 88 of the sites in 2006; this material was used along with macrophyte species height and percent cover to determine macrophyte biomass for the 140 sites included in this dataset using a weighted-averaging partial least squares regression (WA-PLS) model conducted by Ross et al. (2006). Water depth was recorded at each sub-plot and four soil depths were measured to determine mean soil depth. For microbial mat collection, three 625 cm2 sub-plots were established within 50 m of each site’s original coordinates, and microbial mat biomass was determined using collected material. At a subset of 100 census survey sites a part of the original 608 census sites, hydroperiods were calculated using three water depths determined at each site and a digital elevation map produced by U.S. Geological Survey. The calibrated hydroperiods from those 100 sites along with macrophyte species percent cover data, which was determined at all of the 608 original census survey sites, were used to predict hydroperiod for the remaining sites using a WA-PLS model; the predicted hydroperiods were therefore termed ‘vegetation-inferred’ hydroperiod and calculated by Ross et al. (2006). Mean annual hydroperiod for the 140 census survey sites included in this dataset was determined using annual hydroperiod values from 1991 to the date that sample collection occurred and using the Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN). EDEN consists of an integrative network of water-level gauges across the Greater Everglades and interpolation models used to calculate daily water-level data and other hydrologic variables like hydroperiod. Annual hydroperiod was determined using EDEN water depth surface values, which were obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey. EDEN values were then corrected against water depths measured in the field using R code and then mean annual hydroperiod was calculated. Lastly, macrophyte community type for each census survey site was determined using macrophyte species percent cover and hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis conducted by Ross et al. (2006).
FCE1274_Transect_Survey: The transect observational survey also occurred within the six temporary wetland regions and during the dry season. Each transect was established perpendicular to the elevation gradient, which corresponded with the present hydrologic gradient within each region. Transect lengths were contingent on the size of the temporary wetland region as well as the length of the present hydrologic gradient; the number of transect sites varied from 26 to 55 for a total of 254 sites. Sites/plots were positioned along the transect 100 m a part except for region B, where plots were positioned 200 m a part for some of the transect. At each site, the UTM coordinates were recorded, which were from the 17N region and were determined using the datum NAD83. UTMs were converted to decimal degrees using the project() function a part of the terra package (v 1.7.23) in R (Hijmans, 2023). Macrophyte biomass was calculated using the same WA-PLS model calibrated using the macrophyte material collected at the 176 census survey sites. Vegetation-inferred hydroperiod was predicted using a WA-PLS model containing the 100 census survey sites with calibrated hydroperiods, and macrophyte species percent cover determined at each transect survey site. Microbial mat biomass, mean soil depth, water depth, and mean annual hydroperiod were determined using the same methods as the census survey (Ross et al., 2006; Sah et al., 2007).
FCE1274_Removal_Experiment, FCE1274_Removal_Experiment_Macrophyte_Biomass, and FCE1274_Removal_Experiment_Macrophyte_Density: The macrophyte and microbial mat removal experiment occurred in temporary wetland region B at three wetland sites with varying hydroperiods: site S had a shorter-hydroperiod (ca. 3.8 months), site M had a medium-hydroperiod (ca. 6.5 months), and site B had a longer-hydroperiod (ca. 6.6 months). At each site, the UTM coordinates were recorded, which are from the 17N region and were determined using the datum NAD83. UTMs were converted to decimal degrees using the project() function a part of the terra package (v 1.7.23) in R (Hijmans, 2023); UTMs and decimal degrees for each site are included in the FCE1274_Removal_Experiment data table only. Four, 50-m long transects were established at each site between 2003-05 and 2003-06. Along each transect, 24 pairs of plots were established where 12 plot pairs were control and treatment plots for macrophyte removal (MR) and 12 pairs were for microbial mat (periphyton) removal (PR). MR and PR plot pairs were visually and intentionally paired to maximize the similarity of their macrophyte biomass and composition. PR plot pairs were intentionally chosen to contain low macrophyte biomass and MR plot pairs were chosen to contain high macrophyte biomass. Experimental removal of macrophytes from MR plots and microbial mats from PR plots occurred for one year from 2004-05 to 2005-05, and occurred monthly during the wet season (July – December) and bimonthly during the dry season (January – June). After the removal treatment ended, data collection began. One random pair of MR and PR plots from each of the four transects at each site were harvested on a bimonthly basis until all plots had been harvested, which took from 2004-06 through 2006-04. All macrophyte material and microbial mat material were harvested from each plot, and each plot pair was only sampled once. All macrophyte and microbial mat variables were determined using the material collected from the plots. Macrophyte material was seperated by species, stem numbers were counted for stem density, and stems were oven dried to determine macrophyte species biomass. Kleindl et al. (2025) contains a more detailed description of macrophyte and microbial mat sample processing in the laboratory.
Sampling Permits:
Field work was conducted under the United States National Park Service permits: EVER-2002-SCI-0087, EVER-2004-SCI-0012, and EVER-2005-SCI-0037. Please note that the permits that authorized collection of these data are unrelated to the FCE LTER program; the data package contact can provide more information.
References:
Hijmans, R. J. (2023). terra: Spatial Data Analysis. R package version 1.7-23. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=terra
Ross, M. S., Sah, J. P., Ruiz, P. L., Jones, D. T., Cooley, H., Travieso, R., Tobias, F., Snyder, J.R., & Hagyari, D. (2006). Effect of hydrologic restoration on the habitat of the Cape Sable seaside sparrow. Report to Everglades National Park, Homestead, FL, 46.
Sah, J. P., Ross, M. S., Ruiz, P. L., Jones, D. T., Travieso, R., Stoffella, S., & Barrios, B. (2007). Effect of hydrologic restoration on the habitat of the cape sable seaside sparrow. Report submitted to US National Park Service, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida.

Description
This method step describes provenance-based metadata as specified in the LTER EML Best Practices.
A shape file of Everglades National Park was obtained from the National Park Service (NPS, 2024) and used to create a map of data points sampled for this project in the FCE1274_R_Code file. A shape file of the South Florida boundary lines was also used to create a map of data points sampled for this project in the FCE1274_R_Code file. This shape file was retrieved from the State of Florida Boundary Line spatial data available as open source for download application for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Reference:
NPS - Land Resources Division. 2024. Administrative Boundaries of National Park System Units - National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) NPS National Parks Dataset. NPS - Land Resources Division

Data Source
Administrative Boundaries of National Park System Units - National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) NPS National Parks Dataset

• Data Source Creator(s)
  • Organization: NPS - Land Resources Division

  
  

  • Organization: Southwest Florida Water Management District

  
  

Online distribution
https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2224545?lnv=True
Contact
Organization name: NPS - Land Resources Division