Christie, E. K. 1999. NPP Grassland: Charleville, Australia, 1973-1974. Data set. Available on-line [http://www.daac.ornl.gov] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Measurements of above-ground and below-ground standing crop (live + dead matter) were made every 2 weeks during the growing seasons - otherwise every 4 weeks - by clipping 1 m2 quadrats and sampling 5 cm diameter soil cores to a depth of 40 cm. Both sites were mowed to a height of 4 cm at the beginning of the study (November 1973) to remove senescent material.
The Charleville study sites, each of 0.7 ha, included a native perennial "mulga" grassland located within Charleville airport (26.40 S 146.27 E), about 1 km south of the town of Charleville, and a sown grassland dominated by Cenchrus ciliaris, about 25 km north of the town. Grazed mulga shrublands, containing Acacia shrubs together with a grass layer, comprise about 200,000 km2 in south-western Queensland. They are usually associated with red earth soils which are characterised by very low nutrient concentrations and a narrow range of available soil water.
Peak above-ground standing crop at the end of the summer season was 122 g/m2 and 154 g/m2, respectively, for the native and the introduced grass sites. Maximum below-ground standing crop was markedly different, at 110 g/m2 and 400 g/m2, respectively, suggesting a significant difference in shoot/root allocation. Net primary production was estimated as the sum of above-ground peak standing crop (live + dead) and root increment; figures were 182 and 319 g/m2/year for the native and introduced grass sites, respectively. Additional data on litter production and nutrient dynamics are available for the native grassland site. Data on soil moisture, determined gravimetrically with each biomass harvest, are available in the literature.
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E-mail: T.Christie@ens.gu.edu.au
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