Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF) ecohydrological measurements 2021-2024

The dataset contains ecohydrological measurements collected on a subset of the plots of the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF) in Bad Lauchstädt (Central Germany, see Schädler et al. (2019) for more information on the design) from May 2021 to October 2024 at grassland plots with three different management types. Data retrieval, processing and contents are described in a manuscript submitted to Scientific Data (in review). Scripts for data processing can be found in https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17044473. Estimation of root water uptake was done with the scripts in https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17093256.

Setup

PlotIDs are structered as follows: B(=Block) + Block number (1-8) + P(=Plot) + Plot number (1-5) + management (E=extensive meadow, G=extensive pasture, I=intensive meadow) + climate treatment (C=control, F=future). For example, Plot 1 in Block 2 is an intensive meadow with a future climate treatment, hence the plot ID is B2P1IF.

Only a subset of 18 plots was instrumented: In each climate treatment (n=2), we selected n=3 replicate plots per grassland type (n=3). The following plots were measured: B1P1EC, B1P3GC, B3P3IC, B3P4EC, B5P2IC, B5P4GC, B8P1IC, B8P2GC, B8P3EC, B2P1IF, B2P2GF, B4P3IF, B4P4EF, B6P1GF, B6P3EF, B7P2EF, B7P3GF, B7P4IF

Each selected grassland plot has two soil moisture sensor profiles, A and B, with installation depths 10, 20, 30, 50, 70 and 90 cm. Root water uptake depth (RWU95) is set to the depth where 95% of total root water uptake per day is reached.

Files included in this dataset 

1. Meteorological measurements in the observation period (one location for each block, all locations in the same file): 250812_GCEF_Temperature_daily.csv, 241218_GCEF_Precipitation_15min.csv, (also merged in GCEF_Meteorology.zip)
2. Soil hydrological characteristics (bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point, plant available water) for the subset of grassland plots (all plots in the same file): 241015_GCEF_SoilData.csv
3. Aboveground measurements of the vegetation properties (leaf area index, grass height, vegetation cover, proportion of dead biomass) for the subset of grassland plots (all plots in the same file): 250801_GCEF_Vegetation_biweekly.csv
4. Soil temperature and moisture (raw and corrected) time series data (10 min intervals) for the subset of grassland plots in one file per plot with the following nomenclature: 250128_GCEF_PlotID_SoilMoisture_10min.csv (also merged in GCEF_SoilMoisture.zip)
5. Root water uptake per depth and root water uptake depth time series data (daily intervals) for the subset of grassland plots in one file per plot with the following nomenclature: 250128_GCEF_PlotID_RWU_daily.csv (also merged in GCEF_RootWaterUptake.zip)