Biodiversity & Ecology

English

Abstract: I established 92 permanent plots on Mount St. Helens starting in 1980 in order to document vegetation recovery from volcanic disturbances. I report data through 2009, a total of 1,743 records that contain 85 species. These species are most of the common species found in non-forested habitats on Mount St. Helens. Richness, percentage cover, diversity (H' and evenness) and species frequency of a plot are reported. Plots were sampled by 24 0.25 m2 quadrats placed in the same location each sampling year. Habitats sampled included those experiencing primary succession, secondary succession and recovery from disturbance. These data have been used to test hypotheses concerning succession trajectories and patterns of species assembly. They also may be used to test models of succession, determine succession rates and for exploring assembly processes and rules. Four files provide the data: 1) The matrix of species in each plot in each year; 2) The matrix of structural measures (e.g. richness) in each plot in each year; 3) taxonomic and life history characteristics of species in the data set; and 4) geographic and landscape factors for each plot. These data are described in a metadata file that includes numerous time-series images. This report describes the available content in the vegetation-plot database "Thirty Years of Permanent Vegetation Plots, Mount St. Helens, Washington" (GIVD ID NA-US-004).