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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Tucson, Arizona » SWRC » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #202555
Title: Vegetation Data, Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, Arizona, United States 1855

Author
item SKIRVIN, S. - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
item KIDWELL, M. - TUCSON, AZ
item BIEDENBENDER, S. - USFS
item HENLEY, F. - US ARMY
item King, Donna
item Holifield Collins, Chandra
item Moran, Mary
item Weltz, Mark

Submitted to: Water Resources Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/23/2008
Publication Date: 5/22/2008
Citation: Skirvin, S., Kidwell, M., Biedenbender, S.H., Henley, F.P., King, D.M., Holifield Collins, C.D., Moran, M.S., Weltz, M.A. 2008. Vegetation Data, Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, Arizona, United States. Water Resources Research, Vol. 44, W05S08, doi:10.1029/2006WR005724.

Interpretive Summary: The American Geophysical Union has a new thrust to make high-quality data available for research by publishing metadata for a data set that will be available on the web in an AGU-approved web site. This is one of a set of thirteen manuscripts describing data from fifty years of research and data collection at the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) in southeast Arizona, USA. In this work, we described the detailed WGEW vegetation data collected at over 50 permanent transects in 1967, 1994-2000, and 2005, including repeat photography of transects. A vegetation map was developed in 2002 and is illustrated here. This is the first published description of the detailed WGEW vegetation data and we are pleased to be able to make this resource available to researchers and other interested parties. Data are available at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/dap/.

Technical Abstract: The USDA Agricultural Research Service, Southwest Watershed Research Center, Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) is an outdoor laboratory located in Southeastern Arizona to study water and soil conservation in semi-arid lands. Permanent vegetation transects were established adjacent to 55 raingages within WGEW in 1967. Some sites were subsequently added or dropped. Detailed vegetation data were collected in 1967, 1994-2000, and 2005, including repeat photography of transects. Groundcover data were also collected after 1967. A vegetation map was developed in 2002. The transect sites, vegetation map, data collection methods, and current data availability are described. Data are available at http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/dap/.