ABoVE: Vegetation Composition across Fire History Gradients on the Y-K Delta, Alaska

This dataset provides ecological field data that were collected during July 2017 and July 2018 from 43 plots spanning gradients of fire history in the upland tundra of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta, Alaska. Plot-level data include vegetation species composition and structure, leaf area index (LAI), topography, thaw-depth, and soil characteristics collected at plots burned in 1971-1972, 1985, 2006-2007, 2015, or unburned controls. Vegetation species were sampled along transects using the vegetation point-intercept (VPI) sampling approach and summarized by three metrics of vegetation cover: (1) top-hit cover, (2) any-hit cover, and (3) multi-hit cover. Each metric is the total number of hits for a species divided by the total number of sample points. The VPI any-hit cover metric data were combined with Landsat imagery to develop fractional maps of any-hit cover for four aggregated plant functional types (PFTs); bryophytes, herbs, lichen, and shrubs for the upland tundra area. Photographs of vegetation transects and soil pits are included as companion files.