Author(s): Yaffar D
Site ID: PR-Sab
Site Name: Sabana
Variables: Root data
Date Range: Feb. 14, 2017 - June 27, 2018
Description: The purpose of this data was to generate a scientific article that describes the responses of tropical roots to a warming experiment and to the effect of two consecutive hurricanes in Puerto Rico (Yaffar et al. in review). This data is from 10 months of minirhizotron images taken every 2 weeks at the experimental warming Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) plots in Puerto Rico before and after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. This project has 3 warmed plots (plot 2,4,6) and 3 control plots (plot 1,3,5) with 2 minirhizotron tubes at each plot. As part of the data, there is also root data taken from cores and in-growth cores. Additionally, there is soil nutrient concentration data, soil microclimate, total leaf area, and canopy openness taken by Reed et al. 2020, and the TRACE census. Data files are in CSV format and the R code included in this package can be used with R 3.4.4 (R Core Team and contributors worldwide).
QA/QC: None
Methods Description: Images were taken using a wireless manual minirhizotron camera (RhizoSystems, LLC, Idyllwild, California, USA) from continuous windows of soil area (8.3 mm wide, 6.4 mm tall). Images were collected for 7 months of the warming experiment, and 41,800 images from the 10 months after Hurricanes Irma and María. We analyzed all images using RootFly software version 2.0.2 (Clemson University, SC, USA, 2005-2011; https://www.quantitative-plant.org/software/rootfly). Additionally, Soil cores were collected using a 5 cm diameter PVC core to 10 cm depth. We manually picked all roots from each core (< 2 mm in diameter), and cleaned gently with deionized water. We then scanned live fine roots using the WinRHIZO root-scanning software program (Regent Instruments, Inc., Québec, Canada) to measure total root length, and average root diameter. All roots were oven-dried at 65 °C for at least 48 h and then weighed to obtain root biomass. Measurements of soil extractable PO43-, NH4+, NO3-, total dissolved carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and microbial biomass N, phosphorus (P), and C concentrations in these cores are described by Reed et al. (2020). Also, root in-growth cores of 5.5 cm inner diameter and 14 cm length (5 mm × 3 mm hole size) were collected every three months. These in-growth cores had homogenized, root-free soil from adjacent to the plots. Roots were manually separated from the soil following each in-growth core collection. Live fine roots were scanned to measure length, diameter, and volume as described from soil cores. All roots were then oven-dried and weighed. To estimate total leaf area per plot, we multiplied leaf count per species per plot (from TRACE annual census data) by average area per leaf. Leaf area was measured using scans of leaves and Image-J software (Rasband 1997-2018). Only woody species were included in this analysis. Finally, soil moisture and temperature were collected from plot sensors described by Kimball et al. (2018), and means per plot and session (period of MR image collection) are recorded in this database. The R code in this package can be used with R 3.4.4 (R Core Team and contributors worldwide).
Access Level: Public
Originating Institution(s): Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
Sponsor Organization(s): U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research
Contact: Yaffar, Daniela - Oak Ridge National Laboratory (danielayaffar@gmail.com)
Version: 1.0
Dataset Citation: Yaffar D (2021): Root responses to warming and hurricane disturbances in a wet tropical forest of Puerto Rico: R code and data. 1.0. NGEE Tropics Data Collection. (dataset). http://dx.doi.org/10.15486/ngt/1582598
Acknowledgement: This data was supported as part of the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments-Tropics, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy (Contract DE-AC05- 00OR22725). Support was additionally provided by the USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry and the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras. Funding for TRACE is provided by the USDA Forest Service, the US Department of Energy Office of Science, and the National Science Foundation (DE-SC0012000, DE-SC-0011806, DE-SC0018942, and 89243018S-SC-000014, DEB-1754713).
Data Link: Download Dataset
Yaffar, D. (2020). Root production Minirhizotron analysis from the TRACE_PR plot in Sabana, Puerto Rico. NGEE Tropics Data Collection. (dataset). https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.15486/ngt/1582598Reed, S. C., Reibold, R., Cavaleri, M. A., Alonso-Rodríguez, A. M., Berberich, M. E., & Wood, T. E. (2020). Soil biogeochemical responses of a tropical forest to warming and hurricane disturbance. In Advances in Ecological Research (pp. 226–248). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2020.01.007Kimball, B. A., Alonso‐Rodríguez, A. M., Cavaleri, M. A., Reed, S. C., González, G., & Wood, T. E. (2018). Infrared heater system for warming tropical forest understory plants and soils. Ecology and evolution, 8(4), 1932-1944. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3780
