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Non-crop Biomass — Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE)

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Aboveground biomass of non-crop species (i.e., species other than main crop and/or cover crop) in MCSE Treatments 1-8 at the LTER Main Site at or near peak biomass. For successional treatments (T7, and T8), non-crop species refers to all species present in the community. Note that Alfalfa (T6, 1990-2017) may have been harvested multiple times during the growing season.

Also included are the following categories. “Standing Dead” is the biomass of rooted dead plants that grew in the year sampled but were unidentifiable at harvest. “Surface Litter” is the biomass of loose plant material remaining on the soil surface after clipping that may or may not have grown in the year sampled. "Standing Dead” was first sampled in 1997 and “Surface Litter” in 1998. From 1999 to 2011 plant scraps in samples that could not be identified to species were included in "Standing Dead", but since 2012 they are separated into an “Unsorted” category. Also note in 1998, plants were sorted to functional group rather than species.

This datatable is part of the Primary Production of Herbaceous Systems of the Main Cropping System Experiment dataset.

This dataset contains the biomass data of herbaceous systems of the Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE), including Treatments 1-4 and 6-8 at the LTER Main Site (since 1990) and the Mid-successional (TSF) site (since 1993). Included are the data collected at or near peak biomass to estimate aboveground net primary production (ANPP). Systems with multiple harvests or with peaks occurring at different times throughout the growing season may have multiple measurements per year. See the ANPP protocol for sampling and measurement methods of these treatments.

Note

Experiment: Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE)
Data available from: January 1990 to December 2024
Dataset: KBS019
Datatable ID: KBS019-004.162
Core Areas Primary Production,Populations,Disturbance
Repository link: http://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f9b2a038b8a7ad43a252587a84935f30
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Last Updated 2025-03-27
Variate Description Units
Year year of the growing season relevant for the sample
crop crop that was grown on the main site this year. Useful to distinguish cron years from wheat years and soybean years.
Campaign a major multi-year research activity with a discreet purpose
Date date on which sampling occured
Treatment main experimental treatment
Replicate replicate block, nested within treatment
Subplot the subplot sampled. In T3 and T4 the prarie strips are considered subplots
Station replicate station, nested within block
Species species (or taxon) name of the plants sampled, Plants that can not be identified to species are identified to the genus level or above.
Biomass dry mass of sampled material g/m2
area sampled m2 the area of the frame used for sampling m^2
comments

Data Excerpt

year crop campaign date treatment replicate subplot station species biomass area_sampled_m2 comments
2008 Harvest 2008-07-30 T5 R1 none UnSorted 0.96 nothing sampled here
1999 Peak Biomass 1999-08-17 TSF R1 S1 Surface Litter 186.31 1.0
1999 Peak Biomass 1999-08-17 TSF R1 S2 Surface Litter 263.45 1.0
1999 Peak Biomass 1999-08-17 TSF R1 S3 Surface Litter 168.7 1.0
1999 Peak Biomass 1999-08-17 TSF R1 S4 Surface Litter 297.65 1.0
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