Aggregated herbaceous layer projective vegetation cover at 32 sites in Northwestern Canada, in Summer 2022 (CA-Land_2022_NWCanada)

• Main Authors: Schild, Laura, Kruse, Stefan, Gloy, Josias, Haupt, Sarah, Ewald, Peter
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2023
• Subjects: Abies lasiocarpa; cover; Achillea millefolium; Alnus alnobetula; Alnus sp.; Anemone parviflora; Apiaceae; Arctagrostis latifolia; Arctostaphylos uva-ursi; Arctous rubra; AWI_Envi; AWI Arctic Land Expedition; Betula glandulosa; Betula occidentalis; Bistorta plumosa; Bistorta vivipara; boreal forest; British Columbia; Canada; CA-Land_2022_NWCanada; Carex scirpoidea; Carex sp.; Chamaenerion angustifolium; Cornus canadensis; Cyperaceae; Dasiphora fruticosa; DATE/TIME; Deadwood; Diphasiastrum complanatum; Drosera rotundifolia; Alfred Wegener Institute; Northwest Territories; permafrost; Yukon
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.959408; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.959408

Vegetation surveys were carried out in Northwest Territories, Yukon and British Columbia in Canada. The study area is within the boreal forest biome and is partially underlain by permafrost soils. The aim was to record the projective ground vegetation in different boreal forest types studied during the CA-Land_2022_NWCanada field campaign in July and August 2022. The ground vegetation projective cover in percent was assessed within a circular forest plot of 15m radius. Depending on the heterogeneity of the forest plot, multiple vegetation types (VA, VB, or VC) were surveyed separately. The assignment of a vegetation type is always unique to a site. Up to four quadrats of 2x2 m were surveyed per vegetation type and projective cover in percent recorded separately for herbaceous and moss layers. All vegetation smaller than 40cm was recorded. Additionally, ground vegetation projective cover was surveyed in 4 rings of 50 cm width around the center of the circular forest plot. Average projective cover per plot was calculated by using an average weighted by vegetation types for each site. The ring survey data was not included in the plot average. In total 32 forest plots were investigated. All data were collected by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) Germany, and the University of Potsdam Germany.