LTER/AND011 documents plant succession patterns after clearcut logging and slash burning on two experimental watersheds in Oregon's H.J. Andrews Forest. The dataset contains observations from 192 plots (131 on Watershed 1, 61 on Watershed 3) collected annually from 1962-1973 and biennially from 1974-1977. It was created by the Long-Term Ecological Research Program.
Use Cases
- Modeling plant community recovery trajectories using pre-disturbance community classification and soil series data.
- Analyzing changes in canopy cover and woody species cover over the 15-year time-series.
- Correlating soil disturbance classes from logging/burning with subsequent herbaceous taxa frequency.
- Studying ground surface composition dynamics using data on bare ground, stone, litter, log, and stump cover.
- Comparing succession rates between the fully logged Watershed 1 and partially logged Watershed 3 using plot location data.
Strengths
- 15-year temporal coverage from 1962 to 1977.
- 192 total plots provide spatial replication across two watersheds.
- Data includes multiple measured features: plant community type, soil series, soil disturbance class, canopy cover, and ground surface categories.
Limitations
- Sample size is limited to 192 plots, which may constrain statistical power for rare species or fine-scale analyses.
- Data collection ended in 1977, limiting analysis of long-term recovery beyond that date.
- Geographic scope is restricted to two watersheds within a single forest in Oregon.
Provenance
- Source
- Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, H.J. Andrews Forest (AND).
- Collection Method
- Field observations from fixed plots; canopy and woody species cover estimated from 2m x 2m plots, herbaceous taxa and ground surface data from nine 0.33m x 0.33m subplots.
- Time Range
- 1962 to 1977.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- H.J. Andrews Forest, western Cascade Range, Oregon, USA; Watershed 1 (100 ha) and Watershed 3 (25 ha).