Protocols

Measurement of plant species-specific cover, identification of focal species, and collection of plant biomass and functional traits including specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content.

Continuous measurement of soil CO2 concentrations at multiple depths using automated sensors to calculate soil CO2 fluxes via gradient approach. Includes soil temperature and moisture monitoring for e...

Microscopic assessment of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization and other fungal colonization of plant roots using crosshair intercept method and grid line-intercept method for soil fungi.

Systematic monitoring of plant disease dynamics across elevation gradient to capture environmental variation effects. Involves establishment of standardized transects with complete plant population ma...

Surface sterilization of plant tissues followed by DNA extraction and high-throughput sequencing of the ITS region to characterize fungal endophyte communities. Community composition and diversity met...

Factorial experiment crossing nitrogen addition treatments with dominant species removal treatments in replicated plots to test community responses to multiple global change drivers. Includes both sel...

Calculation of multiple phylogenetic diversity metrics for plant communities using established phylogenetic trees and null model approaches to test for phylogenetic clustering or overdispersion.

Collection of soil inocula from resident (high elevation) and novel (low elevation) sites across elevation gradients in mountain ecosystems, with subsequent sterilization treatments to isolate microbi...

Nested sampling design to construct species-area relationships across multiple spatial scales by subdividing plots into equal-area quadrats and averaging species counts across equivalent areas.

Factorial greenhouse experiment testing effects of soil inoculum source and sterilization on alpine grass growth, traits, and fungal colonization. Plants grown in standardized sand-inoculum mixtures w...

A controlled field experiment transplanting grass species across elevational gradients with manipulated fungal soil communities to test effects of plant-fungi mismatches on plant performance during cl...

Extraction of environmental variables from spatial data platform using zonal functions to calculate average climate values within tree polygon boundaries. Integrates snowpack, temperature, and topogra...

Systematic point sampling along transects to quantify vegetation composition and forage quality metrics. Modified from standard methods described in Wilkening et al. 2011.

Method for extracting and analyzing historical herbarium specimen data to reconstruct the life and career patterns of past collectors, including temporal and spatial analysis of collecting activities.