Litter and Groundstorey Vegetation Biomass Data

These data were collected as part of the NSW Grazing Study. All surface litter was collected from a single small quadrat (0.5m x 0.5m) at either 0m or 50m location along the 200m transect. Litter was oven-dried, divided into the following six components and weighed separately: overstorey leaves (shrubs and trees), groundstorey leaves, reproductive structures (seeds, flowers, capsules, nuts), woody components (sticks, bark), animal derived material (invertebrates, dung), and frass (< 2 mm diameter).

Calculation of plant biomass. Groundstorey vegetation biomass was calculated using an adaption of the comparative yield method (Haydock & Shaw, 1975) using photo-standards to assist in estimation of biomass. At each site all five small quadrats (0.5m x 0.5m) were photographed at a 45° angle about 1 m above the quadrat. After photographing we clipped, oven-dried and weighed all vegetative material rooted (living or dead) within either the 0m or the 50 m small quadrat (451 sites by one quadrat). Trained observers used the photographs to estimate groundstorey plant biomass for all quadrats, calibrating their estimation against the series of photographs of with known biomass. The harvested samples were used to assess accuracy of the estimations at each site and the observers estimates averaged, scaled across quadrats at a site to generate a site-level estimation of groundstorey biomass.