Vegetation Surveys in Chihuahuan Desert Grassland and Shrubland Sites Associated with Coyote Scat Surveys at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2008-2009)

This dataset was originally published on the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Data Portal, https://portal.lternet.edu, and potentially via other repositories or portals as described. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source data package is doi:10.6073/pasta/48d6d66a0912f81b31784d3150affb7a, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/48d6d66a0912f81b31784d3150affb7a. Metadata and files included in this record mirror as closely as possible the source data and documentation, with the provenance metadata and quality report generated by the LTER portal reproduced here as '*-provenance.xml' and *-report.html' files, respectively.This data set contains information regarding vegetation structure at sites in grama grassland and both creosote and mesquite shrubland habitats at the Sevilleta NWR. This information was collected at randomly selected sites throughout the refuge. Each site is within 100 meters of one of the 22 road-based transects(20 in 2008) that were used to carry out coyote scat surveys during three seasons (spring, summer and fall) in 2009 (see "Coyote scat surveys in grassland and shrubland sites at the Sevilleta NWR, spring, summer and fall 2009" data set). Data was collected within at total of 22 circular vegetation plots (40 in 2008), each of which is 30m in diameter. Each plot was surveyed a total of three times, specifically in: April (spring), July (summer), and October (fall) 2009. Variables were selected based on their relevance to patterns of coyote habitat use, as well as their utility in calibrating Landsat images of the study site and the likelihood that they would vary seasonally. Measured variables include: average percent live woody vegetation cover, average percent live grass cover, average percent live forb cover, and average woody plant height. Information on woody plant species with individuals greater than 0.5 m in height is also presented