Data from USDA ARS Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) near Nunn, CO: Cattle weight gains managed with light, moderate and heavy grazing intensities
The USDA-Agricultural Research Service Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) is a Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network site located ~20 km northeast of Nunn, in north-central Colorado, USA. In 1939, scientists established the Long-term Grazing Intensity study (LTGI) with four replications of light, moderate, and heavy grazing. Each replication had three 129.5 ha pastures with the grazing intensity treatment randomly assigned. Today, one replication remains. Light grazing occurs in pasture 23W (9.3 Animal Unit Days (AUD)/ha, targeted for 20% utilization of peak growing-season biomass), moderate grazing in pasture 15E (12.5 AUD/ha, 40% utilization), and heavy grazing in pasture 23E (18.6 AUD/ha, 60% utilization). British- and continental-breed yearling cattle graze the pastures season-long from mid-May to October except when forage limitations shorten the grazing season. Individual raw data on cattle entry and exit weights, as well as weights every 28-days during the grazing season are available from 2000 to 2019. Cattle entry and exit weights are included in this dataset. Weight outliers (± 2 SD) are flagged for calculating summary statistics or performing statistical analysis.
- 2x csv
Data from: Can measurements of foraging behaviour predict variation in weight gains of free-ranging cattle?
This study examines whether four different ways of measuring daily foraging behaviour (grazing-bout duration, grazing time per day, velocity while grazing, and turn angle while grazing) were related to weight gain by free-ranging yearling steers grazing semiarid rangeland. Data include measurements interpreted from neck collars supporting a solar-powered device that measured GPS locations at 5 min intervals and an accelerometer to predict grazing activity at 4 sec intervals.
- 4x csv
Data from: Monitoring standing herbaceous biomass and thresholds in semiarid rangelands from harmonized Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 imagery to support within-season adaptive management
Tabular data from the manuscript "Monitoring standing herbaceous biomass and thresholds in semiarid rangelands from harmonized Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 imagery to support within-season adaptive management" published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.
- 2x csv
Data from: Compound hydroclimatic extremes in a semi-arid grassland: Drought, deluge and the carbon cycle
These data were generated to evaluate the effects of compound hydroclimatic extremes – a deluge during drought – on production and carbon cycling in a semi-arid (shortgrass steppe) grassland in Colorado (USA). The study experimentally imposed an extreme drought and then interrupted this drought with either a single extreme deluge event or the equivalent amount of precipitation provided in several smaller events
- 10x csv
Semiarid grasslands and extreme precipitation events: Do experimental results scale to the landscape?
This dataset contains growing season precipitation data collected from an extensive rain gauge network with thirty catch cans distributed on the USDA-Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) in Nunn, Colorado from 1982-2013. The CPER is a site in the USDA Long-term Agroecosystem Research Network.
- 3x csv
The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network Standard GIS Data Layers, 2020 version
A geodatabase of standard geospatial data for the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network.
Patterns of precipitation and productivity on various topographic positions on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado
Thirty-six years of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) data collected across a topographic sequence and daily precipitation data from the semiarid shortgrass steppe of North America to examine patterns and drivers of spatiotemporal variability in ANPP.
- 5x csv
Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network regions, 2018 version
The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network, consisting of 18+ research locations, is conducting research on the sustainable intensification of agroecosystems. To enable coordinated network level research, a spatial framework is required to facilitate analysis. This dataset contains a geodatabase of three new maps describing regional boundaries for the LTAR Network titled "Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network regions, 2018 version.”