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Methods for Experiment 097 -

Field Operations: Fencing

The plots in experiment E097 are enclosed by a fence to exclude mammalian herbivores. Galvanized welded-wire hardware cloth with 6mm x 6mm openings was buried to a depth of 84cm. Additional hardware cloth extends 60cm above the ground, and poultry netting extends to 1.8m above the ground. During the summer of 1986, aluminum flashing was placed in the ground to a depth of 12 inches. This flashing surrounds each plot in each field, keeping the plants from spreading between plots by belowground vegetative reproduction. The aluminum flashing is placed 12 inches from the edge of each plot.

Field Operations: Fertilization

Fertilizer is mixed and spread by hand twice a year, once in early May and once in late June. Each plot gets the fertilizer mixture specified by its fertilizer treatment code. For a list of fertilizer treatments for each plot, see file trmte02. Starting in the spring of 1992, 3 replicates of each nutrient treatment in fields A and C were randomly selected to receive no more fertilizer. For a list of treatments for each plot, see file trmte97.

Field Operations: Mammal Trapping

Small mammals are trapped as often as possible to keep the resident population low. A list of the number and kind of mammals taken from each field is in the small mammal documentation file. Pocket gophers are trapped out of the fields as soon as they appear. Gopher mounds are then removed and vegetation is unburied.

Sampling for E097

1992: E097 was sampled as part of E002. For sampling documentation see sampling for E002. 1993: E097 was sampled as part of E002. For sampling documentation see sampling for E002.

Treatment layout : trmte97

Note: Old nitrogen treatment codes 1 = 0g/m2/yr Ammonium Nitrate 2 = 3g/m2/yr 3 = 6g/m2/yr 4 = 10g/m2/yr 5 = 16g/m2/yr 6 = 28g/m2/yr 7 = 50g/m2/yr 8 = 80g/m2/yr 9 = 0g/m2/yr Treatment: 1 = Fertilized in the spring, 0 = Stop fertilizing