{"id":197,"date":"2024-06-12T20:36:50","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T20:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/caplter\/?post_type=project&p=197"},"modified":"2024-09-17T18:08:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T18:08:48","slug":"ecological-survey-of-central-arizona","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/globalfutures.asu.edu\/caplter\/?project=ecological-survey-of-central-arizona","title":{"rendered":"Ecological Survey of Central Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Ecological Survey of Central Arizona is an extensive field survey and integrated inventory designed to capture key ecological indicators of the CAP LTER study area consisting of the urbanized, suburbanized and agricultural areas of metropolitan Phoenix, as well as the surrounding Sonoran desert. The survey is conducted every five years at approximately 200, 30 x 30 m sample plots located randomly using a tessellation-stratified dual-density sampling design. As a result of the design, study plots fall in just about every imaginable habitat throughout the CAP LTER study area, ranging from native Sonoran Desert sites, to residential yards, to airport tarmac. Measurements include an inventory of all plants, identified to the lowest possible taxonomic unit, plant-size measurements, soil coring for physicochemical properties, insect sweep-net sampling, photo documentation and a visual survey of site characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, the survey was expanded to include an inventory of residential parcels overlapping the survey plot at sites in residential areas. The objectives of the survey are to characterize patches in terms of key biotic, physical and chemical variables, and to examine relationships between land use, general plant diversity, native plant diversity, plant biovolume, soil nutrient status and social-economic indices along an indirect urban gradient. In light of the extensive spatial coverage of ESCA, the sampling locations of many of CAP LTER\u2019s other long-term monitoring programs were repositioned to coincide with ESCA study plots around the time of the first ESCA (Survey 200) to leverage data from multiple monitoring efforts. The fourth and most recent survey was conducted in 2015, contributing to a rich dataset in terms of both temporal and spatial coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Datasets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n