Citation:

PANGAEA.996905 (dataset in review)

Name: Plant productivity increases methane uptake in an alpine tundra ecosystem
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: alpine; British Columbia; Climate change; Methane; Methane flux; methane oxidation; Photosynthesis; Plant cover; productivity; Tundra

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Abstract:

This dataset is comprised of 100-plot measurements over a 3-day period during peak growing season in July (2025) quantifying net methane (CH₄) exchange, gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, soil nutrient rates, and environmental drivers in Northern British Columbia alpine tundra ecosystem (59° 17′ 27.5″ N, 129° 45′ 26.5″ W). Using a systematic grid approach, the sampling locations covered an area of 50 m by 100 m consisting of 100 plots spaced ~5 m apart. Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes, analyzed with a LICOR 7810, were measured once at each of the 100 plots between July 21-25, 2025 from 10:00 to 15:00 MST, using static flow-through-non-steady-state transparent chambers. Plant cover types from each plot were split into the following classes: barren (n = 21), prostrate shrub (n = 40), erect shrub (n = 4), and meadow, with a division adjustment into graminoid (n = 21), and forb (n = 14). A subset of the study plots (n = 40; Fig. 1) was selected using a random weighted distribution to proportionally represent the dominant vegetation class across the study area. Using PRS ion-exchange resin probes (Western Ag Innovations), deployed over a 3- week period from July 19 to August 8th, 2025, study plots were analyzed for NO₃⁻, NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, H₂PO₄⁻, Fe³⁺, Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, B³⁺, SO₄²⁻, Pb²⁺, and Al³⁺. The scope of the study and this dataset is to compare CH₄ exchange to light and dark measurement conditions, and to improve the spatial and temporal coverage of methane exchange in alpine tundra ecosystems of Northern British Columbia.

Keyword(s):

alpine; British Columbia; Climate change; Methane; Methane flux; methane oxidation; Photosynthesis; Plant cover; productivity; Tundra

Related to:

Aalto, Juha; Niittynen, Pekka; Riihimäki, Henri; Luoto, Miska (2021): Cryogenic land surface processes shape vegetation biomass patterns in northern European tundra. Communications Earth & Environment, 2(1), 222, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00292-7

Funding:

Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada), grant/award no. AWD-031954 : Wildlife Conservation Society, Fellows

Coverage:

Median Latitude: 59.290408 * Median Longitude: -129.756809 * South-bound Latitude: 59.289750 * West-bound Longitude: -129.757610 * North-bound Latitude: 59.290980 * East-bound Longitude: -129.756030

Date/Time Start: 2025-07-21T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2025-07-23T00:00:00

Minimum Elevation: 1683.1 m * Maximum Elevation: 1703.8 m

Event(s):

AlpineTundra_BC2025 * Latitude Start: 59.290980 * Longitude Start: -129.757370 * Latitude End: 59.290180 * Longitude End: -129.756030 * Date/Time Start: 2025-07-21T19:53:00 * Date/Time End: 2025-07-22T11:43:00 * Elevation Start: 1703.8 m * Elevation End: 1683.1 m

Parameter(s):

#	Name	Short Name	Unit	Principal Investigator	Method/Device	Comment
1	Plot	Plot		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
2	DATE/TIME	Date/Time		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		Geocode
3	Date/time start	Date/time start		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
4	Date/time end	Date/time end		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
5	LATITUDE	Latitude		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		Geocode
6	LONGITUDE	Longitude		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		Geocode
7	ELEVATION	Elevation	m a.s.l.	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		Geocode
8	Light description	Light descr		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
9	Methane, flux	CH4 flux	µmol/m²/s	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
10	Carbon dioxide, flux	CO2 flux	µmol/m²/s	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
11	Methane, flux	CH4 flux	mg/m²/day	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
12	Carbon dioxide, flux	CO2 flux	g/m²/day	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
13	Radiation, photosythetically active, average	PAR avg	µmol quanta/m²/s	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Quantum PAR meter, Gain Express Holdings Ltd, USA, PAR-355
14	Surface temperature	Surf temp	°C	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
15	Temperature, air	TTT	°C	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
16	Temperature, soil	T soil	°C	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		at 5 cm depth, next to chamber
17	Temperature, soil	T soil	°C	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		at 12 cm depth, next to chamber
18	Soil moisture	Soil moisture	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Time domain reflectometer, Spectrum Technologies Inc, USA, FieldScout TDR-300 (TDR)	average
19	Vegetation height, mean	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		within the chamber
20	Functional group	Functional gr		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
21	Species, common name	Species common		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
22	Temperature, mean	Temp mean	°C	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Temperature logger, HOBO, UA-001-64	in chamberf
23	Slope	Slope		Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Measure application, Apple, 2026
24	DEPTH, soil	Depth soil	m	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Thaw probe	Geocode – 1
25	DEPTH, soil	Depth soil	m	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Thaw probe	Geocode – 2
26	DEPTH, soil	Depth soil	m	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Thaw probe	Geocode – 3
27	DEPTH, soil	Depth soil	m	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Thaw probe	Geocode – average
28	Vegetation height	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Tape measure	1; within the chamber
29	Vegetation height	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Tape measure	2; within the chamber
30	Vegetation height	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Tape measure	3; within the chamber
31	Vegetation height	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Tape measure	4; within the chamber
32	Vegetation height	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Tape measure	5; within the chamber
33	DATE/TIME	Date/Time		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		Geocode – of soil depth measurement
34	Vegetation height, mean	Veg h	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		within the chamber
35	Vegetation height, maximum	Veg h max	cm	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		within the chamber
36	Vegetation height, standard deviation	Veg h std dev	±	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		within the chamber
37	Depth, soil, minimum	Depth soil min	m	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
38	Depth, soil, maximum	Depth soil max	m	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
39	Vegetation, cover	Veg cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		total within chamber
40	Prostrates shrub, cover	Prostrates shrub cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
41	Bare ground, cover	Bare ground cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
42	Graminoids, cover	Graminoids cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
43	Forbs, cover	Forbs cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
44	Erect shrub, cover	Erect shrub cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
45	Prostrate shrub, fraction	Prostrate shrub frac		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
46	Bare ground, fraction	Barren ground frac		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
47	Graminoids, fraction	Graminoids frac		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
48	Forbs, fraction	Forbs frac		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
49	Erect shrub, fraction	Erect shrub frac		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
50	Plant, species richness	Plant S		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
51	Shannon Diversity Index	H'		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
52	Evenness of species	E		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
53	Shrubs, cover	Shrubs cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
54	Graminoids, cover	Graminoids cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
55	Forbs, cover	Forbs cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
56	Moss, cover	Moss cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
57	Lichen, cover	Lichen cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
58	Shrub/herb ratio	Shrub/herb ratio		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
59	Bryophytes and Lichens, cover	Bryo lichen cov	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
60	Green Chromatic Coordinate	GCC		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		mean
61	Green Chromatic Coordinate	GCC		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		median
62	Green Chromatic Coordinate	GCC		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		90 percentile
63	Excess green index	ExG		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		mean
64	Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index	VARI		Morales, Lyreshka Castro		mean
65	Density, dry bulk	DBD	g/cm³	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
66	Water content, volumetric	VWC	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
67	Nitrogen, total	TN	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
68	Nitrogen in nitrate	N-[NO3]-	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
69	Nitrogen in ammonium	N-[NH4]+	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
70	Phosphorus	P	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
71	Potassium	K	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
72	Calcium	Ca	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
73	Magnesium	Mg	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
74	Sulfur	S	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
75	Iron	Fe	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
76	Manganese	Mn	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
77	Copper	Cu	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
78	Zinc	Zn	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
79	Boron	B	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
80	Aluminium	Al	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
81	Cadmium	Cd	µg/cm²	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
82	Date	Date		Morales, Lyreshka Castro
83	pH	pH		Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Plant root simulator ion-exchange probes, Western Ag Innovations, PRS (PRS)
84	Ecosystem respiration	Reco	µmol/m²/s	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
85	Gross primary production	GPP	µmol/m²/s	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
86	Ecosystem respiration, carbon	Reco C	g/m²/day	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
87	Gross primary production of carbon	GPP C	g/m²/day	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Trace gas analyzer, LI-COR, LI-7810
88	Forbs, biomass	Forbs biom	g	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
89	Moss and lichen, biomass	Moss+lichen biom	g	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
90	Shrubs, biomass	Shrubs biom	g	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
91	Dead plant material, biomass	Dead plant biom	g	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
92	Graminoids, biomass	Graminoids biom	g	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
93	Biomass, aboveground, dry mass	Biom abovegr dm	g	Morales, Lyreshka Castro		total
94	Forbs content, aboveground, biomass, dry mass	Forbs cont abovegr biom dm	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
95	Moss and lichen content, aboveground, biomass, dry mass	Moss+lichen cont abovegr biom dm	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
96	Shrubs content, aboveground, biomass, dry mass	Shrubs cont abovegr biom dm	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
97	Dead material content, aboveground, biomass, dry mass	Dead mat cont abovegr biom dm	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
98	Graminoids content, aboveground, biomass, dry mass	Graminoids cont abovegr biom dm	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro
99	Nitrogen, total	TN	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Elemental Analyzer, Thermo Scientific, Flash 2000
100	Carbon, total	TC	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Elemental Analyzer, Thermo Scientific, Flash 2000
101	Loss on ignition	LOI	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Muffel furnace, 500 °C, LOI	mean
102	Loss on ignition	LOI	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	Muffel furnace, 500 °C, LOI	standard deviation
103	Carbon, inorganic, total	TIC	%	Morales, Lyreshka Castro	CO2 Coulometer, UIC Inc., CM5018

License:

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) (License comes into effect after moratorium ends)

Status:

Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)

Size:

14262 data points

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